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Morning,
The pound is not the only currency which has fallen in value since the June referendum.
Trust has also taken a hammering.
Those in favour of Brexit believe their opponents are trying to thwart the democratic will of the 17million who voted to leave.
The Remainers counter by saying that if you are on an aeroplane that starts to nosedive then you should do everything you can to ensure a soft landing rather than a hard one.
Neither trusts the motives of the other.
Caught up in this melee of suspicion, claim and counter claim is the Chancellor Philip Hammond.
Allies of Mr Hammond were forced to put out a statement this morning denying claims he is trying to slow down the progress towards Brexit.
A sympathetic view of the Chancellor’s position is he is rightly fighting his corner as the guardian of the nation’s finances.
Opponents claim he is endangering the success of Brexit by being deliberately obstructive.
Theresa May should not be surprised that Brexit continues to be such a divisive issue.
She drew the battle lines in her conference speech.
Instead of using the opportunity to heal the wounds of the referendum, she spoke almost entirely to the 52% who voted Leave. Three years’ ago David Cameron held a mid-term press conference during which he boasted his would not be a government that parked decisions in the in-tray marked ‘too difficult.’
He then promptly did just that by shelving the decision on expanding Heathrow.
We are now, finally, expecting an announcement in the next few days.
The issues around Heathrow have not changed in the intervening years; there is a need for more capacity, the environmental consequences are significant and we still have a Cabinet which contains a sizeable number of members (Theresa May, Philip Hammond, Justine Greening and Boris Johnson) whose constituents dislike living under Heathrow’s flight paths.
The Transport Secretary Chris Grayling may shed further light on whether Heathrow or Gatwick will get the nod when he appears before the Transport Select Committee this afternoon. The Commons kicks off with Work and Pensions Questions.
Look out also for a hearing of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee at 11am this morning on the governance of football.
Sam Allardyce is likely to get a mention but so too could be the decision to host the World Cup in Russia and Qatar. If you want to get in touch my email is jason.beattie@mirror.co.uk and you can follow us @mirrorpolitics on Twitter.
Thanks,
Mirror Politics | 
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