UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Berlin, Germany, August 21, 2019

I spoke with talkRADIO’s James Max on Thursday about the Brexit meeting between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, cutting through the spin to explain why nothing has changed about Britain’s No Deal crash-out of the European Union on October 31.

Listen from 6:16 in 0630-0700 Segment

What Merkel actually said to Johnson is “you have 30 days to do one of two things”.

Either you accept the Irish backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement, which Johnson endorsed in March, or you prove “alternative arrangements” will work.

She said the European Union will change wording in the Political Declaration, which is just a statement of intention rather than any binding commitment.

We also discuss the UK’s troubled HS2 rail project, at risk — despite billions of pounds put into it — of being halted by the Johnson Government.