Local government is to receive £20m to help with Brexit preparations. Or, £10m as it transpires, as £10m is money that has already been announced – as Michael Burton explains in his column on page 10 this week.

As Boris Johnson hurtles towards the Brexit deadline, brandishing his ‘no ifs, no buts’ motto as he goes, he is throwing cash at no-deal preparations.

It’s not just an emergency planning operation, it is also an elaborate game of chicken with the EU. But it will also serve the purpose of scaring the general public into believing the threat of a no-deal is real, thus making any deal at all a more palatable option than the Armageddon alternative.