The darkest hour came at 8pm on Monday night.
Johnson delivered the message to Von der Leyen that he would not sign a Brexit deal with the EU.

“I cannot sign this treaty, Ursula,” he said. “I can’t do something that is not in my country’s interests.” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/madman-johnson-gets-his-hollywood-ending-7tw70j8zj

“It was the most direct that he was with her. He said that unless they changed track, we would trade on Australian terms” — No 10 code for no-deal.

He then spoke to the German in her own tongue: “Viel hummer, kein hammer” (“lots of lobster, no hammer”).

Johnson: “We need to revive this process like that scene in Pulp Fiction,where they stick the adrenaline straight into Uma Thurman’s heart”

VdL: “I haven’t seen that film”

VdL and her team all had to huddle around an iPhone and watch that scene to know what he was talking about

von der Leyen said the EU would accept a transition of six years to lower fishing quotas.

Johnson said: “Five!”

A seemingly endless silence ..No 10 switchboard operator apologising connection had gone down

A disembodied German voice then piped up:“No, I’m still here -5½ yrs?”

In early March, Frost outlined Boris Johnson’s key demand, that the UK be treated as an independent nation.

Barnier responded with “a hilarious meltdown”, the Frenchman launching into a “massive rant” in which it is claimed he said: “Why do you keep mentioning ‘sovereignty’.

Another time an enraged Barnier literally shouted: “I am calm!”

These Outbursts revealed Barnier's discomfort with the British approach, a fundamental philosophical difference.

To European leaders, it was a foundational principle that countries pool sovereignty for mutual gain.

In Nov. 2015 Boris said to this journalist “You could ask me a load of questions, but there in’t much point because this is what I want to say,” outlining details of a “sovereignty clause” he wanted enshrined in British law, allowing parliament to override decisions from Brussels

It was a blunt message to Cameron: his price for backing remain.
It would have been front-page news had there not been a terrorist attack that w/end.
Johnson’s then wife, the QC Marina Wheeler, convinced him leaving was the only way to make laws British.

Thank you Marina !

Johnson told him [Frost] to play “ultra hardball” even if it put noses out of joint

Frost's deputy Oliver Lewis summed up the approach by quoting Bismarck:“With a gentleman, I am always a gentleman and a half, and when I have to do with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half”

Senior EU officials Boris' No deal threat had an effect: “We never, ever believed Theresa May would go for no-deal. With Johnson, we did not expect it, but 5% to 10% of you thinks he might do it, and that changes the nature of the game.”

Throughout the process, Lewis had been in touch with arch-Eurosceptics such as Sir Bill Cash to reassure them that the "rebalancing clause" would allow any future candidate for PM to run on a pledge to change Britain’s relationship with the EU.

Just the beginning. WTO in 2024

In short, PM Johnson has achieved the goal he set himself. Unlike May, his deal is likely to survive contact with his own party.

It’s a triumph of the "sovereignty" philosophy Boris championed in 2016.

some fun at Frost’s expense

After congratulating him on signing a deal Boris added: “I’m afraid there’s a problem with the RAF flight and I don’t think we’re going to be able to get you home”

An “awful silence” .. until James Slack piped up: “I think he’s suffered enough, PM”