Should we believe EU threats that they will allow no-deal Brexit?

Analysis: Both the prime minister and the EU27 are ramping up the rhetoric, but as John Rentoul explains, neither side really wants a chaotic breakup

The ideal of an ever stronger Europe exerts a strong pull (EPA)

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said that if the British parliament votes against the withdrawal agreement next week, “it will guide everybody to a no deal, for sure”.

Should we believe him? The short answer is no. But it is complicated, and it is still possible that the UK could leave the EU next Friday without a deal.

So why shouldn’t we believe the man known in the banlieues of Paris as the Chuka Umunna of France?