Irish ministers warned to stay off UK media

IRISH ministers have been “banned” from taking part in interviews with the UK media as the latest instalment of ‘Brexit Shambles’ plays out. The timing of David Davis’s resignation (almost midnight on Sunday) surprised officials in Dublin – but has been largely met with a shrug of the shoulders.

There was always the possibility that one or more of Theresa May’s Brexiteers might resign at some stage this week. That was factored in to her ‘either you’re with me or against me’ stance at Chequers.

Dublin has no issue with Davis disappearing onto the noisy backbenches where he’ll fit right in. But Boris Johnson’s decision to step down is a whole other story.

It was better to have the unpredictable buffoon inside the room than outside it, roaring in. His ability to destabilise the already shaky political establishment in Britain makes politicians here nervous.

Cabinet members going overboard was to be expected – it’s a full mutiny that Dublin doesn’t want to see happen.

And for that reason, a decision was taken at the highest level in Government to stay off the likes of Sky News and BBC until after the white paper on Brexit is published on Thursday.

“Since last Thursday there has effectively been a ban on ministers or TDs appearing on UK media. We’ve doubled down on it after Davis’s resignation,” said a source.

Officials in Dublin described themselves as “perplexed” by the goings-on in Downing Street and they are keen not to make things any more difficult for Mrs May.

David Davis is no great loss. He has been side-lined since last year and is not somebody that Tánaiste Simon Coveney, who leads Ireland’s Brexit team, communicated with regularly.

Ahead of the Chequers summit last week, Mr Coveney travelled to London to meet a string of ministers and senior officials who gave him a strong indication of what to expect. Davis was not on his list.

At all the big moments, Davis has been overruled by the prime minister. He even objected to the sequencing of the Brexit talks. “He was Brexit secretary in name only,” said an EU source, who said the real “operator” behind Brexit is May’s top civil servant Oliver Robbins.

But as attention turned towards Johnson yesterday afternoon, the anticipation was somewhat more fevered. The ex-foreign secretary’s next move has the potential to bring the whole circus crashing down.

Despite some disquiet in the Tory party about his recent behaviour, he is still the stand-out name on the list of potential successors to Mrs May. Other names in the mix include Brexiteers Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg. If any of them were to get the top spot, Leo Varadkar’s “bulletproof” backstop would be dismantled pretty quickly.

So Dublin, along with the rest of Europe, must watch and wait. Officially they are saying little more than May’s Cabinet is her own business. But, in truth, it is all our business now, as the clock ticks perilously towards an October deadline for a deal.

Brexit’s coming home to roost.