Boris Johnson’s Brexit blame game will come back to bite him at the general election

Editorial: With the German chancellor having quashed the British prime minister’s dreams of securing the EU’s support for his deal, an extension and a general election looks more likely than ever

Any remaining hopes that Boris Johnson’s proposals for a Brexit deal would win the EU’s backing seem to have been extinguished after a tense phone call between him and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.

Last week, there were initial signs that the UK’s plan for Northern Ireland to remain in the EU’s single market regulatory orbit would at least provide a basis for discussion, if not for agreement. But the two sides were still poles apart on customs, always likely to be the stumbling block, and so it has proved.

The manner in which the tentative talks have virtually collapsed is instructive. An astonishing briefing to The Spectator by a Downing Street source shows that Mr Johnson has learned nothing from Theresa May’s experience.