Chris Moncrieff: Why David Davis is our British bruiser among the bureaucrats

Davis, an amiable bruiser of a minister who sports a broken nose, does not deal in elegant diplomatic language, but talks tough.

And he needs to, as well, since his “opponents” have, it seems, transformed into a bunch of grasping Shylocks, demanding not only their pound of flesh, but plenty more on top of that.

These Brussels grandees are plainly far more interested in what they can squeeze out of the Treasury coffers than the actual political outcome.

The UK, thankfully, has already made clear it will not be prepared to pay the eye-watering sums mentioned in Brussels – sums of money even Premiership football clubs might shy away from.

David Davis, the Haltemprice and Howden MP, was effectively sidelined by David Cameron. At least Theresa May had the wisdom to bring him back into the fold.

Meanwhile, May has been warning potential Tory rebels on Brexit they had better step into line or face the possibility of a Jeremy Corbyn government.

There is no telling yet whether these words will have any effect on these diehards when the crucial withdrawal Bill comes before Parliament later this week.

The British electorate voted for Brexit, yet a number of MPs appear to think they know better. It is monstrous that people who proclaim “power to the people” should then do their utmost to try to reverse the people’s verdict once it has been delivered.

THE Liberal Democrats are banging their drums and beating their chests in consternation about the Brexit negotiations, making more noise than you would think their puny representation in the House of Commons would justify.

The party leader Sir Vince Cable, 
and his mini-army at Westminster, have been talking about “wrecking balls” and thus clearly mean business when the crucial Bill comes before Parliament 
later this week.

It has always baffled me how MPs, who are constantly preaching the virtues of democracy, should be so pliable as to try to ignore the pro-Brexit vote in the referendum of June last year.

One of their former leaders, Nick Clegg, was by no means alone in 
calling for a second referendum, but 
went one ludicrous step further than 
the others.

Not only should there be a second referendum, he said, but young people should be given two votes each.

If that is his idea of democracy – 
and presumably it is – then he is 
welcome to it.

The Liberal Democrats, and others at Westminster who are critical of the Government’s line in these negotiations, should realise they are merely giving the grandees at Brussels aid and comfort.

And that could leave us with the worst of all worlds – surely that is not what the obdurate Remainers want.

“I AM not sure that’s a smart idea, mate.” These were allegedly the words of Sir Lynton Crosby, the Tories’ Australian election guru, when he heard the Prime Minister was going to call a snap poll last June.

If that really was his view, why 
on earth did he not relentlessly 
drum home to the Prime Minister 
that she was taking a terrible risk by suddenly going to the country at that point?

It was at a time when the Tories 
were enjoying a 20-point opinion poll 
lead over Labour.

Virtually everyone “in the know” assumed that May would emerge 
with a 50 or so overall majority in the Commons and thus avoid any effective danger presented by rebellious backbenchers over Brexit.

Perhaps he did warn May about the folly of her actions and she refused to accept that – more fool her.

If that is the case, he should have pressed harder, for, after all, he 
had the reputation of being one 
of the world’s most eminent election strategists.

But if the reported utterance 
of his words is simply his excuse 
for having masterminded the 
Tories into a campaign that proved 
to be disastrous, then it is an entirely different story.

Chris Moncrieff is a former political editor of the Press Association.