White Paper is red rag to Brexit bulls and Trump

THE UK government's new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resumes exit negotiations this week with Brussels. These talks come after a tumultuous time for Theresa May, leaving her very vulnerable in Downing Street again, after Cabinet resignations and the diplomatic disaster that was President Donald Trump's trip.

Almost two years to the day that Mrs May took office as prime minister, the government last Thursday sought to draw a line in the sand with publication of its Brexit White Paper. Yet Mrs May's vision, embodied in the document, is unlikely to be the last word after already coming under criticism from the UK political right and left, not to mention the extraordinary interventions of Mr Trump.

This move to define the UK's final negotiating position follows a nationwide debate about the meaning of the 2016 referendum result.