Mr Davis was a prominent Brexiteer and spent three years as Europe Minister in the John Major Government under Douglas Hurd and Malcolm Rifkind. He was the first Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union but resigned due to opposition to the Chequers agreement, with the role since held by Dominic Raab and Stephen Barclay. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Davis wrote: “Put aside the hyperbole and exaggeration about ‘the death of democracy’ and ‘constitutional outrage’ that have accompanied the Prime Minister’s plans to prorogue Parliament.

Invoking Winston Churchill, Mr Davis wrote: “This is not the end.

“It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Mr Davis has been an MP since 1987 and resigned in 2008 to force a by-election and start a wider debate on what he perceived as the erosion of civil liberties.

“It is actually a sensible strategy that can potentially reset the tortured Brexit negotiations.”

He added: “In politics, momentum is key but it’s also crucial to have a sense of purpose.

“Had the Government pursued such a strategy from June 2017, who knows what position we would be in now?

“By reducing the options of unreconciled Remainer MPs, and making it abundantly clear that no deal is much more likely and that Parliament cannot block it, Boris Johnson has signalled to the EU that they need to focus on what a new Withdrawal Agreement would look like. At the very minimum it needs to be shorn of the backstop.”

Mr Davis said recent developments supported his belief any deal for Britain’s withdrawal would occur with only weeks remaining till the departure date, currently October 31st.

He argued governments in France and the Netherlands were already softening their stance and Brussels itself may want to seek an extension to the deadline.

Mr Davis: “They are engaging because they see the UK getting serious.”

More to follow… 

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