Theresa May’s statement tonight wasn’t particularly dramatic. She had no new policies to announce or arguments to make. Rather, she once again attempted to frame the choice before MPs as her deal, no deal or no Brexit. She tried to position herself as the defender of the referendum result and attacked MPs for failing to take a decision.
As a political journalist my reaction to the statement was, is that it? But the question is whether the attack on MPs for the endless motions and amendments and for not talking about anything else will resonate with the public, and lead to them putting pressure on their MPs to back the deal.
May said, as she had in the House earlier, that she won’t delay Brexit beyond June 30th. The main reason she gave for this is that she doesn’t want to ask people to elect new MEP almost three years after the referendum result. But she didn’t shed any light on whether this means she’ll accept a softer Brexit to get out by June 30th or whether she’ll try and take the UK out without a deal if the withdrawal agreement is rejected again.
Comments