'I was in the room as another European leader gave a scathing verdict on Brexit'

A week ago it was Emmanuel Macron lambasting Brexit and its impact on the UK's small boats crisis.

This time around it was German Chancellor Friedrich Merz standing next to Keir Starmer saying he "deplores" the decision to leave the EU. He may not have been as punchy as the French President, but the message was just as clear - wounds are starting to heal.

Brexit may have been an elephant in the room for some time, but there is a growing willingness to talk about the way it's hindered efforts to stop the boats, to coin Rishi Sunak's ill-fated slogan. For the second time in a week a joint press conference with a European leader has thrown up some uncomfortable truths.

The penny has finally dropped that if Britain is ever going to tackle the trafficking gangs, it cannot do it alone. A returns deal with France and Germany's agreement to start raiding warehouses where small boat components are stored are signs the PM's charm offensive is paying off.

He was on first-name terms with his counterpart and the body language was warmer than it's been for years. Mr Starmer opened his press conference at Airbus in Stevenage by declaring he and Mr Merz have a "shared resolve to shape this new era with new leadership".

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He's keen to hammer home the message that while Nigel Farage gripes, he gets things done. There was glowing praise for the German leader for pushing forward a new law to criminalise gangs smuggling people to the UK - a major breakthrough after it was previously hampered by, ahem, Brexit.

Mr Starmer said: "For a long time, I've been very concerned about the fact that engines, in particular, but component parts of the boats that are being used are travelling through and being stored in Germany, but they can't be seized because the law didn't accommodate for a country which had left the EU and therefore needed to be amended.

"And I am very grateful for the chancellor, and we've discussed this at great length on a number of occasions, he's now going to change the law, introduce the necessary legislation, so that we can intervene in that place."

There were other wins to brag about too - an agreement to explore a direct train line between the two countries among them. There was also an agreement allowing millions of Brits to use e-gates in Germany, and steps to make school trips easier.

But if it felt like a victory lap for the PM before Parliament breaks up for the summer, domestic troubles continue to bubble below the surface. On Wednesday he took the surprise decison to suspend four rebels who a Labour insider accused of "persistent knobheadery".

Was this a sign of weakness, he was asked by Sky's Beth Rigby - one of two UK journalists afforded a question after the speeches. Tony Blair did not do so after his own welfare rebellion in 1997, the PM was reminded.

He shot back: "We have to deal with people who repeatedly break the whip because, everyone was elected as a Labour MP on the manifesto of Change, and everybody needs to deliver as a Labour government."

We're only a few days away from a much-needed summer break - judging by the way this story is set to run and run, that can't come soon enough.

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