Theresa May is embarking on a critical make-or-break 48 hours which could determine whether she can deliver Brexit successfully and survive as Prime Minister.
Her authority has been badly damaged this week by a bruising clash with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson over payments to Brussels and the UK’s relationship with the EU after Brexit.
May and Johnson The PM is chairing one of the most crucial Cabinet meetings of her premiership, ahead of making a landmark speech on her Brexit strategy in the medieval Italian city of Florence.
In her speech, she is expected to attempt to break the deadlock in Brexit negotiations, caused by a row over the UK’s so-called “divorce bill”, by making an offer of €20bn.
Her twin aims over the next two days are first to try and restore some unity to her Cabinet after a frenzied week and second to win a positive response to her offer from Brussels and European leaders.
The Cabinet meeting begins only a few hours after the PM arrives back in Downing Street from New York after sharing a seven-hour overnight flight with the Foreign Secretary.
Their attempt to show unity came at the end of a three-day visit to Canada and the United Nations by the PM, which was dominated throughout by a brutal challenge to her authority by Mr Johnson.
First, in a move that brought calls for Mrs May to sack him, Mr Johnson attacked the PM’s Brexit strategy in a 4,000-word newspaper essay.
Then, during his stay in New York, he appeared to be poised to resign.
But it is claimed he has now stepped back from he brink and is ready to back the PM’s offer, after previously saying he could not live with further payments to the EU after the Brexit transition period and telling Brussels to go whistle.
The row has laid bare the bitter divisions inside the Cabinet, between those who want a so-called “soft Brexit”, led by Chancellor Philip Hammond, and hardline Brexiteers led by Mr Johnson.
The leading Brexit players in the Cabinet have sharply different priorities:
:: The Foreign Secretary wants £350m a week reclaimed from Brussels spent on the NHS and said the EU could go whistle for a big exit bill;
:: But the Chancellor wants to prevent a cliff-edge Brexit from damaging business, and a two-year transition period, which has angered Tory Eurosceptics;
::While David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, is taking a more pragmatic approach and says his first priority is resolving the issue of EU citizens rights.
After stepping back from the brink of resignation, Mr Johnson claimed the Cabinet was a nest of singing birds.
Other ministers have also told Sky News they are now united behind the Prime Minister.
Priti Patel, the strongly Eurosceptic International Development Secretary, who was at the UN with the PM and Foreign Secretary, said: This isn’t about individual views of Cabinet ministers.
We in Cabinet are united behind the approach of Theresa May and that is the right approach as it is focused on getting the best deal for the UK.
And Business Secretary Greg Clark told Sky News: “The whole Government, the whole Cabinet, is determined to make sure that the prospects for the UK, not just with Europe but all around the world, build on our strengths.”
Before boarding her RAF flight home with Mr Johnson, the PM’s final engagements included a meeting with Donald Trump and a speech to the UN’s General Assembly, for which she was criticised for not mentioning Brexit.
Labour MP and leading Remain campaigner Chuka Umunna said after the PM’s speech: It is truly astonishing that our Prime Minister should outline Britain’s foreign policy at the UN and not even mention the biggest single issue in our international relations – Brexit.
When given an opportunity to address the rest of the world, one would expect Theresa May to at least acknowledge our exit from the EU and give an indication of the Government’s priorities. But not a bit of it.
Brexit might be turning into a nightmare for her government, but sticking her head in the sand and pretending it doesn’t exist won’t make it go away.
We can only hope for a more impressive performance in her speech in Florence on Friday, but no one should be holding their breath.
But President Trump gave the Prime Minister a Brexit boost when he told her he expected the United States to do a lot of trading with the UK after it leaves the European Union.