David Davis is bluffing on Brexit. And now it’s clear for all to see | Rafael Behr

The secretary of state's blustering over the impact assessments reveals one thing: the whole of the government's Brexit strategy is built on lies and obfuscation

It called to mind Bill Clinton's sublimely evasive remark when questioned about the veracity of statements he had made about the nature of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is," said the president. David Davis, when asked by a House of Commons committee to explain why he had failed to provide anything adequately resembling the Brexit impact assessments that had been demanded by parliament fell back on an extraordinarily devious defence. There are no "impact assessments" and never had been.

The secretary of state did not deploy air quotes in his testimony but the implied inverted commas carried the full weight of his argument. It was, in essence, that MPs had voted to insist on the provision of something that didn't exist and so there was no real need to question whether or not he had complied.

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