On Brexit the mood music is changing in a direction that I hadn't expected. Theresa has significantly upped the offer on the divorce bill and there are positive vibes from Brussels and Nigel has gone ballistic. Seems like Theresa has bigger cojones that some were giving her credit for.
According to the IT Irish/British/EU officials are working feverishly on a form of wording that will let Leo off the hook. I can't see now how he could feasibly play the veto card. There is a growing Brexiteer backlash against Ireland's position. We have to be very careful here. Like it or not the Brexiteers are in the UK ascendancy; having Alistair Campbell as our friend is not going to do us much good.
Well cremeegg I am not going to try and match you in the political forecasting department - still smarting from The Donald and I didn't call this latest spat (subject of the OP) either. All the same I think we will finish up with something much less than public expectation though it will be dressed up to suit all sides. There is no way we will get away with crashing the car even if we have a hand on the steering wheel.
We don't even want to crash the car. A no-deal hard Brexit would affect Ireland very badly, worse even that the Brits themselves probably. But that will be decided in the next phase. Now is our time of maximum leverage, when the next phase comes all the rest of the EU 27 will have their vital interests at stake as well.