During August, Westminster usually decamps to Tuscany. Not this year

The end of July and start of August are usually the dog days at Westminster. After the end-of-term frenzy which sees Whitehall disgorge a mountain of reports and statements – a process known to reporters as “putting out the trash” – SW1 generally descends into slumber as soon as the speaker declares the House adjourned for the summer.

Not this year.

This year, a new prime minister entered Downing Street just 26 hours before recess began. Ambitious Tory MPs were unable to slope off to “work in their constituencies” (or depart for a long summer in Tuscany or the Dordogne) in case they were summoned to take up a post in the hurriedly appointed new government. And since then, Boris Johnson has made a point of maintaining a very public display of activity in keeping with the dynamic image he wants for his administration.

The new PM has let it be known he, at least, won’t be taking a holiday this summer. He’s toured the UK, proving in the process that there are people waiting to boo him in all four nations of the union. He’s set up new committees with the mysterious codenames XS (exit strategy) and XO (exit operations) – the latter meeting on a daily basis as the last 90-odd days tick down to the Halloween Brexit deadline. And after years of being told that cash is tight, that there’s no “magic money tree”, suddenly funds are available for police, hospitals and schools, as well as £2bn to deal with the chaos the government now clearly accepts will result from a no-deal EU departure.

There is one area, however, where the signs of urgent activity one might have expected to see have failed to materialise. No plans for the widely predicted tour of EU capitals to sweet-talk European leaders. No dates for negotiations on the new deal which the PM claims to want. Johnson has even erected a new red line that all but rules out talks over the summer, saying he will only enter discussions if Brussels gives up its cherished backstop. (Michel Barnier’s team say they are available for negotiations, but somehow one doubts their break will be disturbed.)

With all this activity, and all these meetings, and these eager new ministers wanting to show how busy they are, there will be a lot of work done this summer. But most of it will involve preparations for no-deal Brexit, rather than agreeing a deal.

And all that work creates its own momentum. The sense grows day by day that the “one in a million” chance of no deal is actually not so farfetched.

Yours,

Andrew Woodcock

Political editor