James Forsyth James Forsyth

A way for both sides to claim Brexit victory

Negotiations will be long and may be bitter, but the solution could be a simple compromise

Theresa May doesn’t do drama. She regards order as both a political and personal virtue. And this goes a long way towards explaining why she is Prime Minister. After the Brexit vote last June and David Cameron’s resignation, the Tories had had enough excitement. They turned to the leadership contender who was best able to project a reassuring sense of calm.

It is in keeping with May’s approach that she has drained the drama from the triggering of Article 50, the start of the two-year process for leaving the EU. Other prime ministers might have been tempted to do it with a flourish — to feel the hand of history on their shoulder. But May has removed any sense of surprise by having her spokesman blandly declare that she’ll be sending the letter on Wednesday. In doing this, she’ll both meet her deadline of invoking it by the end of March and avoid clashing with this weekend’s celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. Filing divorce papers during the EU’s party would not be the right note on which to start the talks.

Those intimately involved in preparations for the Brexit talks cite two reasons for this advance announcement. First, it gives the EU time to work out when it can get its 27 member states together to discuss their response. After press speculation that Article 50 would be triggered last week as soon as the Brexit bill received Royal assent, EU leaders had pencilled in a date for a summit — and were irritated when May didn’t send the letter. The government hopes that by letting Brussels know when it’s coming, they can prevent any further frustration.

The second reason is to kill off speculation about a snap election.

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