“The Prime Minister cannot say one thing in Brussels and another in Britain. She needs to face down the right-wing Brexiteers in her party in order to guarantee the talks actually move forward. Above all she still needs to protect citizens’ rights to ensure they are not a casualty of a no-deal Brexit, and the European Union must also do more to make this happen.

“It is not enough to adopt a warm tone in meetings with other leaders whilst allowing Cabinet ministers to tour television studios threatening a no-deal Brexit. Even today, Davis has announced he will use Halloween to try and convince the Cabinet that a no-deal would not be a catastrophic failure. May’s first task when she’s back in the UK today should be to rule out a no-deal Brexit and tell him to get on with the job he’s being paid to do- negotiating a Brexit deal.

“All of this back and forth only strengthens the case for a referendum on the deal. The people, not politicians, must have their say.”