Theatre critic and sketchwriter ends 18-year association with title, which has changed
Brexit stance
The
Daily Mail’s parliamentary sketchwriter and theatre critic,
Quentin Letts, has left the newspaper as it continues its transformation under its remain-supporting editor, Geordie Greig.
The Mail’s editorial line has shifted significantly following this summer’s departure of former editor Paul Dacre, a staunch proponent of a hard Brexit, leading some of the newspaper’s leading voices to look for work elsewhere.
Letts confirmed he was leaving the Mail in the coming months and would be writing for a number of other publications. “I have had 18 busy and exciting years writing for the Mail and its fine readers but I have now agreed a future economic partnership – as Guardian readers might put it - with the Times, Sunday Times and the Sun.”
Although Letts is closely associated with the Daily Mail, which he regularly represented on shows such as Question Time, where he is also the paper’s theatre critic, the pro-Brexit Herefordshire-based journalist is on freelance terms and had already begun writing for other newspapers in recent months.
In addition to writing columns for the
Rupert Murdoch-owned titles, Letts will become the Times’ parliamentary sketchwriter. His departure was first reported by the Guido Fawkes blog.
Letts, a leave supporter, has previously described a soft Brexit as “baloney”. Last week, he attempted to sum up the House of Commons’ reaction to Theresa May’s Brexit deal and concluded that MPs felt it “ponged”.
“To put that in continental terms, it was ein Stinker, basura, malodorant, puzzolente,” he wrote.
In recent months, the newspaper’s editorial line has closely tracked Downing Street’s message and been strongly supportive of a deal, with insiders saying the tone is being guided by the new assistant editor, Simon Walters.
On Wednesday, the newspaper asked “So NOW Will MPs listen?”, having commissioned a poll that showed the public backing May’s Brexit deal.
The Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine, the wife of the cabinet minister Michael Gove, also praised the Brexit deal under the front-page headline: “She fired my husband – but even I salute May’s true grit that’s won the deal to deliver Brexit.”
Dacre had warned that any attempt to deviate from the paper’s pro-Brexit line would disillusion loyal Daily Mail readers, but Greig has repeatedly made clear his main objective is warning of the threat of a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government.
Downing Street’s efforts to sell the Brexit deal have been largely successful among pro-Brexit newspapers. The Daily Express, which has a new editor, has also given its full support to the proposals – meaning the Sun is the only major pro-Brexit tabloid to reject the proposals.