Get a grip, Prime Minister

Theresa May’s Brexit challenge is truly Herculean. Every time she believes she has done enough to finally move the Brexit process on, she is told that there is something else she must do. And each time, her tasks become more difficult.

The problem is compounded by the fact that May is weakening her own hand. The Monday misstep has harmed the UK’s position. As one Tory insider laments, ‘Things with the EU are bad. It shows Theresa can’t really deliver.’ Even a senior figure at the Department for Exiting the European Union admits that the ‘handling was poor’.

The UK is also coming up against hardball negotiating tactics. There have been moments when the Irish have refused to speak to May, saying that they’d rather the diplomats sort things out.

The Prime Minister has finally got there. But there are lessons to be learned from Monday’s mishap. A deal with Dublin and Brussels seemed to have been agreed on a solution to the Northern Irish border problem but she was unable to deliver it because the DUP, a Northern Irish party with just ten MPs, decided to veto it. How on earth was this allowed to happen?

The answer starts in No. 10. Veteran Tories lament that it is hopelessly understaffed (at a time when the demands on it have never been greater) and that there is a general lack of direction and grip. This problem has been made worse by the government’s recent personnel troubles. Political party problems (i.e., dealing with the DUP) are supposed to be solved by the chief whip, but Julian Smith is just a few weeks into his job. On such important issues Mrs May’s deputy ought to pull things together but, I am told, ‘Damian Green is effectively not operating. He’s one of the people who should be squaring off the DUP.’