When Theresa May asks the EU’s 27 government heads for a Brexit delay on Thursday, they will reply ‘what’s it for, Mme Prime Minister?’
And the problem she’s got — we’ve got — is she doesn’t know, as the junior Brexit minister Kwasi Kwarteng made crystal clear when questioned in the Commons yesterday.
All she has is her deal, rejected comprehensively by MPs twice and ruled as ultra vires for a third vote by the Speaker yesterday.
There is no Plan B, there never has been.
So those same EU leaders are almost certain, according to well-placed sources, to postpone the decision on whether to grant a Brexit delay and on how long that extension would be.
They will ‘ask for more clarity from the UK’ on the purpose of a delay.
‘After all there is still a whole week to go’, my source said sardonically.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate, free for a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.
UNLOCK ACCESS Try a month freeAlready a subscriber? Log in