Anybody with even a remote interest in Brexit knows that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on 31 October. Why, then, have the Conservatives published a job advert for a Brussels-based internship starting the day after D-Day?

Conservative MEPs, which belong to the Conservative and Reformist Group in the European Parliament are recruiting a paid intern for the European Parliament based in Brussels. The job description includes duties such as assisting the press or whips office, drafting summaries and briefings, and helping with committee work.

Boasting the opportunity as both a means to "learn more about the work of the European Parliament and the European Union" and gain "practical experience in a demanding political office", the position will last six months and offers a salary of €1,500.

So far so normal...except for the dates. The advert, published on 25 September, will close on 1 October and the role is set to start on 1 November 2019. Given the rather tumultuous political times, we can imagine this would be a rather stressful starting day for any intern, let alone one whose role will be to help "nurture the relationship between the Group and the Party now and beyond Brexit."

The Conservatives have previously come under fire for their affiliation with the Conservative and Reformist Group (ECR), which groups together, amongst others, the Brothers of Italy, Spain's Vox, and Poland's Law and Justice.