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Like Jack Bauer, the prime minister is in a perilous race against time, but in this case he caused the crisis himself
Those familiar with 24, the jeopardy TV series in which Kiefer Sutherland as Agent Jack Bauer is tasked with saving the world by any means necessary, will have had flashbacks. An Armageddon Clock has been installed at Conservative campaign headquarters counting down the time to Brexit by day, hour, minute and second. Another digital timepiece is to be installed in the prime minister’s office.
This is one of several theatrical props intended to supercharge the atmosphere. As if the stakes were not already vertiginous, they are being raised further as a conscious act of government policy. After a rummage down the back of the Treasury’s sofa, Sajid Javid declares that he has found another £2bn to add to the £4bn-plus already committed to contingency planning for a crash-out Brexit. It is very doubtful whether that extra money can be sensibly deployed in the short time left before the end of October. To the government, announcing the money was the most important thing, making it one of the most expensive press releases in the history of political propagandising. We are told that Michael Gove is chairing daily meetings of the XS committee, the “war cabinet”, to supposedly “turbocharge” preparations for no deal. And more than £100m will be consumed by one of the country’s “biggest ever public information campaigns” to warn everyone what they have to do to prepare for the worst. Continue reading...