Boris Johnson's split from Brussels echoes Henry VIII's break with Rome | Larry Elliott

Many would have thought the Tudor king needed to avoid a no-deal break but history has proved otherwise

Boris Johnson's assertion that the UK should prepare for a no-deal Brexit has left the financial markets unconvinced. Brinkmanship is the name of the game, they say. Before negotiations can be concluded there always has to be a crisis when it appears all is lost, then both sides give a little and success is plucked from the jaws of failure.

The big banks in the early 1530s did not employ armies of economists to opine about political events but had they done so the analysts of the 16th century would probably have been saying the same about Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon as they are now about Brexit. Henry is bluffing. He is not really prepared to break with Rome. A schism will do neither side any good, but there will be more damage to England than to Catholic Europe.

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