Laura Kuenssberg: State of Chaos

May/Johnson (1x1)

: 11, 2023

Summer 2016, and the Brexit referendum result cuts Britain down the middle - stunning Westminster and the world. It is the starting point of a series that will explore the consequences and reasons behind some of the most dramatic and chaotic political events seen in a generation. It will examine how close our political system came to breaking and if it will ever be normal again. Spanning the premiership of three prime ministers, episode one begins with Theresa May assuming office and holding the responsibility for delivering on the referendum result. We hear from senior civil servants who have never spoken before about the absence of a plan for achieving Brexit, which kick-starts months of anguished rows within the Conservative Party over what a deal with the EU should look like. For seven years, Laura was the BBC’s political editor and so held a ringside seat at these events. Talking now to ministers, advisers and officials who were in the room, we hear what was driving the division