In all areas, the UK continues to backtrack.

Hello and welcome to Brexit Republic RTE's podcast on Brexit.

Each week we bring you all the latest Brexit news from Dublin, London and Brussels.

I'm speaking to our London correspondent, Sean Hewling this week.

Sean, we interrupt our usual intro for me to play that musical team.

Is that an appropriate way to start off today's podcast?

Well, it certainly is, Colin, because nothing says Shropshire North quite like an Abbas song about a village in Belgium, does it?

We're talking about Shropshire North because, of course,

Boris Johnson has suffered a humongous defeat in a by-election that was held there on Thursday

by election to replace Owen Patterson, the former Northern Ireland secretary, who got pinged

by the regulators in the House of Commons

for being a bit naughty and taking money to lobby ministers on behalf of a pharmaceutical company that makes COVID tests,

not supposed to do that. He wouldn't take his 30-day suspension punishment blind down.

Prime Minister backed him. All the Tories tried to overturn it, they lost.

They all got besmirched with slees allegations and that triggered a by-election in that place when Owen Patterson resigned rather than face the medicine, as it were.

Now, why is all that important? Well, and how does it connect to Waterloo?

Well, this is one of the truest blue of true blue seats that you can possibly imagine,

because this place, Shropshire, has been voting Tory since 1832.

And the leader of the Tory party way back in 1832 was the Duke of Wellington.

Famous Dubliner.

The famous Dubliner, Victor at Waterloo and he was the leader of the party.

He opposed incidentally the Great Reform Act of 1832 which expanded the franchise to would you believe one in five

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