Would he really be prepared to trigger a wave of defaults in order to clean up India's bad debts?
He wrote a new play for the Guardian, titled A Strong Exit, which is set in a bunker below Whitehall as ministers prepare to trigger article 50.
The prime minister is facing a growing backlash from the pro-Brexit wing of her party, with MPs warning they are prepared to trigger a leadership contest.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said on Monday that he was prepared to trigger a double dissolution election if the Senate did not support the legislation, which would see Australia go to the polls on 2 July.
As Theresa May prepares to trigger article 50, the two new government departments she set up to oversee the process – DIT and the Department for Exiting the European Union – are both hiring staff and contractors.
But the Guardian understands from members of the government and from prominent backbenchers that there is a growing belief that enough MPs are prepared to trigger a vote of confidence in the prime minister in the summer of 2014 if the Tories experience a setback in the local elections.
With an early general election impossible to rule out as May prepares to trigger article 50, which starts the formal process for leaving the EU, Labour has yet to identify a list of target seats, or select candidates, to contest them.
Despite having previously described the Conservative prime minister as "a very solid, sensible person" he will be strongly critical of her government's approach to Brexit as members prepare to trigger article 50 by the end of March, notifying the EU of the UK's intention to leave.
Juncker on Brexit: 'It's a tragedy' Jump to media player As Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50, Katya Adler speaks to Jean-Claude Juncker about Brexit.
As the government prepares to trigger Article 50, what are the key areas that will need to be dealt with in the Brexit negotiations with Europe?
