As May announced her intention to quit after phase one of Brexit, MPs attempted to take control of the debate with a series of indicative votes. The former UK ambassador to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers reflects on how the negotiation process favoured the bloc once the timetable was agreed. Plus: Caroline Criado Perez on what a lack of spacesuits for women tells us about entrenched sexism

When Sir Ivan Rogers resigned unexpectedly from his post as the UK’s ambassador to the EU in 2017, it created shockwaves. It also meant the loss of one of the country’s most experienced negotiators at a time when Britain was about to trigger article 50.

He joins Anushka Asthana to discuss how the Brexit negotiations have panned out since and argues that when Theresa May and her initial Brexit secretary, David Davis, agreed to a timetable that required a withdrawal agreement to be signed before beginning trade talks, the EU gained the upper hand.



With the extended Brexit deadline approaching, Theresa May has still not persuaded a majority of MPs to back her deal, and instead the government has ceded parliamentary time to backbenchers on a series of ‘indicative votes’ in an attempt to find a way through the stalemate.

Also today: Caroline Criado Perez on what a shortage of spacesuits for women tells us about entrenched sexism.