AS the Government seems to be tying itself up in knots over public sector pay, it is hard to imagine how the Cabinet could all manage to get to Brussels for a day trip together, let alone hold a steady line on the negotiation needed and promised to move us away from the EU.

Never mind collective responsibility, the chance to speak is there and the idiots are willing to take it. Imagine if there really are cards being played in the negotiations over Europe, cards that we keep being told are kept close to the chest of the Government.

Every last card and technique would be exposed by this bunch of publicity seekers. It seems clear as they argue about whether the NHS and Armed Forces pay review decisions are closed for the year, or open to being revisited, that what is needed as we emerge from the faux austerity is a properly thought through set of proposals that avoid a myriad of opportunities for the Cabinet members to vent their ideas.

If the Government raises the pay of teachers beyond one per cent but leaves the pay of nurses or soldiers capped at one per cent for nearly a year, the press will have a field day and people like Johnson will milk the limelight for all it is worth.

This top calibre negotiating team need to resolve their issues in private and begin to act like leaders. Otherwise we may as well assume that we won’t get any sort of deal from the EU, which perhaps explains why Theresa May promised us no deal rather than the deal she and her colleagues could achieve.

Ian Chisnall is a political blogger. Visit: ianchisnall.wordpress.com.