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Hello and welcome to The Spectator Podcast. I'm Lara Prendergast and on this week's episode,

we'll be looking at where Britain is at in its retreat from the EU. We'll also be marvelling at the wondrous and sometimes infuriating

jargon that we've invented to describe Brexit and finally we'll be asking whether British

aristocrats are being seduced by the new glamocracy. Like Hercules, Theresa May keeps having

extra labours added to her tasks, says James Forsyth in this week's cover story.

Every time she believes she has done something to finally move the Brexit process on,

she is immediately told that there is something else she must do.

I'm now joined by James and Janice Verifakas, the former finance minister of Greece, to discuss.

So James, it seems like it's been so bad week for Theresa May.

Are there any glimmers of hope at the moment? It has been a bad week for Theresa May. I think she arrived on

Monday. Everyone became very optimistic that there were going to be sufficient progress to move

on to the next stage. And then this whole question of the Irish border through a massive spanner

in the works, with the DUP basically making quite clear that they

couldn't live with the text. And it's also open a whole can of worms within the cabinet about

how close Britain is going to stay to the EU in terms of rules and regulations after Brexit.

This is the most explosive issue in the Tory party and Theresa May has never even let

the Cabinet discuss it. But now this text appears to imply that in big sectors of the economy,

the whole of the UK could be choosing to stay in line with EU rules even after we leave.

Do you think that was a big mistake not letting the cabinet discuss it?

Yes, because it means that Britain has never known what it actually wants out of these

negotiations. And as I think the Greek experience shows, the EU will always try and make you

...