As predicted in an earlier post, the DUP is playing hard ball and no agreement is yet reached with the tottering May. It is also the case that, behind a carefully arranged veil that the argument could be about money, it is more to do with the political risks of propping up a government short of a majority, split from top to bottom and toxic in the country. Should it topple, those attempting to prop it up could be crushed by falling debris at the next general election. The alternative is to allow a Corbyn minority government with broad cross party support, to get the country back on its feet, then to go into an election sweet and clean.
Meanwhile the Chancellor and the Bank Governor make speeches in the City which are diametrically opposed to what was thought to be the government line on Brexit. This indicates not just a split in the Cabinet, but a growing power base of soft Brexiteers within the government, parliament, business, the Unions, the City and the rising generation, which talks of Brexit which puts jobs and the economy first. Taken literally that means no Brexit, but in practice it is a kind of Brexit which amounts to the same thing.
All eyes on the Queen’s Speech, in scaled down ceremonial in accordance with the sombre mood of the nation. Whether Her Majesty’s Government will have the opportunity to advance its proposals into action depends on what happens in the Commons over the next following days.