Martin Selmayr, the Rasputin of Brussels, reacted to the departure of the Rasputin of Downing Street by tweeting a single word, ‘Bauernopfer’, a German chess term for a pawn sacrifice. A former cabinet minister predicted that defenestrating the chiefs would not save May: ‘King Charles I’s adviser Strafford was his most effective lieutenant but he had to be sacrificed and that left him defenceless. Theresa will be less effective without them.’
