I’m in no-deal planning ops. Here’s a briefing from our Whitehall bunker

Acres of analysis will be written about what mistakes were made – the Institute for Government has already made a start. My point here is simply that while future inquiries will probably be devastating, they will probably also find evidence of positive significant change in civil service culture. Mark Sedwill and civil service chief executive John Manzoni hinted as much when they reminded every civil servant a few days ago that all sides of the Brexit debate have shown admiration for the civil service. If we collectively manage to avoid a no-deal Brexit – if we avoid Brexit altogether – we should still weep for what those no-deal billions could have been spent on. But if those costs end up also contributing to a complete re-imagining of what public service is for and how it is conducted, I can live with that. Even if it’s a long way from being a bargain.