Last week a group of senior Number 10 advisers convened to finalise plans for a series of public information films on a No Deal Brexit. Discussion quickly turned to who should front it.
‘We need someone reassuring and authoritative who the public will listen to,’ a May aide ventured. ‘There’s only one answer,’ his colleague responded. ‘It has to be Geoffrey Cox.’
Civil service rules prevented the orotund Attorney General from hosting the video. Which is probably just as well, because over the coming days his efforts will be focused on preventing – rather than becoming the face of – impending Brexit Armageddon.
Cox is an unlikely national saviour. First appointed to the Cabinet last July, he rose to prominence after a barnstorming turn during autumn’s Conservative Party conference, where he wowed the crowd as Theresa May’s warm-up act
‘Geoffrey is Britain’s final hope,’ a Cabinet Minister told me, referencing his last-ditch negotiations with the EU over a change to the backstop. A backbench MP agreed. ‘Either he gets the EU to deliver, or the Government is f*****, the Conservative Party is f***** and the country is f*****.’
Cox is an unlikely national saviour. First appointed to the Cabinet last July, he rose to prominence after a barnstorming turn during autumn’s Conservative Party conference, where he wowed the crowd as Theresa May’s warm-up act. ‘It was Stephen Parkinson [long-standing May adviser and senior member of the Vote Leave campaign] who urged us to use him,’ a No 10 official recalls.
‘He said, “He’s a brilliant orator, he’s a fresh face, and most importantly, he’s a proper Brexiteer.” ’
Cox scribbled some notes while travelling to Birmingham on the train, briefly paced the empty auditorium to get his bearings, then proceeded to give the speech that would catapult him into the hearts of Tory activists, and the political spotlight.
‘He was a keen actor at school, and wanted to be a poet,’ a Minister reveals. ‘And you could tell he was back there when he was wandering around that stage, emoting everywhere. He was in his element.’
‘Geoffrey is Britain’s final hope,’ a Cabinet Minister told me, referencing his last-ditch negotiations with the EU over a change to the backstop
It was Cox’s success as a senior barrister that finally convinced Theresa May she needed him at the heart of her Brexit strategy.
Cox’s lyrical interventions at Cabinet meetings have already earned the admiration of his colleagues. ‘I could listen to him for hours,’ swoons a female Minister. ‘He’s the Cabinet’s Walrus of Love. Our very own Barry White.’
But it was Cox’s success as a senior barrister that finally convinced Theresa May she needed him at the heart of her Brexit strategy.
‘He was one of the highest-paid members of the House of Commons,’ a May aide recounts ‘and some people thought he wouldn’t give that up for a relatively junior Cabinet post. But when we sounded him out he agreed immediately. The PM liked that. Most people join to boost their salary; he took a massive pay cut. She thought that showed integrity and commitment.’
Indeed, some of Cox’s colleagues were concerned he might possess a little too much integrity.
‘Former Chief Whip Gavin Williamson first spotted his potential,’ a Minister says ‘and he recommended him to the PM as one to watch. But he also warned he could be a little bit independently minded.’
Up until now this independence of mind has served him well. ‘The AG’, as he is known now, attends every one of May’s morning strategy meetings which, according to No10 insiders, is unheard of for a serving Attorney General. Invited to update last week’s Cabinet on the progress of the Brexit negotiations, he politely informed his colleagues he would ‘keep my own council’ to avoid leaks. ‘He’s one of only three or four people in Government who really know how the talks are going,’ a Minister said, ‘and anyone who tells you differently is lying.’
‘Former Chief Whip Gavin Williamson first spotted his potential,’ a Minister says ‘and he recommended him to the PM as one to watch. But he also warned he could be a little bit independently minded’
‘They like him,’ a Cabinet Minister tells me. ‘He fits their idea of what a British Minister should be. They feel they’re negotiating with David Niven'
Those talks are now reaching the pivotal moment, with Cox having a vital dual role to play.
First, he must convince the reluctant Eurocrats to go as far as they can on breaking the Brexit deadlock.
According to Government insiders, he’s having some success.
‘They like him,’ a Cabinet Minister tells me. ‘He fits their idea of what a British Minister should be. They feel they’re negotiating with David Niven.’
There is now said to be real movement, with Angela Merkel taking the lead. ‘The Germans are making a point of saying to us, “I hope you notice how much more helpful we’re being than the French,” ’ an official reveals.
Secondly, once a deal is secured, he must find a way of selling it to the anti-Chequers hold-outs in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s ERG. A task complicated by the fact that, as well as promoting the deal politically, he will also need to draft the advice on its formal legal standing.
‘That was something Geoffrey found hard with the first Meaningful Vote,’ a friend explains. ‘He wanted to help the PM. But he didn’t feel he could compromise on his legal judgment that there was no backstop exit mechanism.’
According to a senior ERG member Cox is ‘highly respected’. But there is still a reluctance to allow him to effectively mark his own homework.
‘This is a mistake Theresa keeps making,’ one member says. ‘Yes, Geoffrey’s a genuine Brexiteer. But she thinks that by simply installing people for political purposes she can get us to roll over. And it won’t work.’
According to a senior ERG member Cox is ‘highly respected’. But there is still a reluctance to allow him to effectively mark his own homework
That’s why the ERG announced the establishment of their own ‘Star Chamber’ made up eight lawyers, seven of whom are serving MPs, to provide their own legal assessment of the ‘Cox Deal’.
There have been reports of splits within the ERG, and even that their will to resist Chequers has finally been broken. But there was minimal evidence of it during last week’s Brexit vote, where ERG members defied the Government whip backing Yvette Cooper’s amendment to extend Article 50.
‘We got the WhatsApp message from Steve Baker to abstain just after the Division Bell rang, and 88 of us did. Our discipline’s holding,’ an ERG member tells me.
All of which underlines the scale of the challenge facing ‘The AG’. He must win concessions from our European allies the EU said were unwinnable. He must secure movement from Eurosceptics who had pledged to be unmovable. And he must deliver an improbable victory for a PM whose premiership was said to be unsalvageable.
This morning the fate of the nation rests with the Walrus of Love. Geoffrey Cox is our first, our last, our everything.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/03/dan-hodges-so-can-mrs-mays-walrus-of-love-save-brexit/
Main photo article Last week a group of senior Number 10 advisers convened to finalise plans for a series of public information films on a No Deal Brexit. Discussion quickly turned to who should front it.
‘We need someone reassuring and authoritative who the public will listen to,’ a May aide ventured. ‘There’s onl...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/03/02/10506582-6765293-image-a-54_1551578441283.jpg
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