MAY MUST FORGET BRUISED EGO AND FOCUS ON SOLUTION

IT’S said the real test of good mannersis to be able to put up with bad manners, pleasantly. Both the EU and Theresa May appear to have failed on that score. To be fair to Mrs May, a foolish social media post by Donald Tusk mocking her about cherry-picking was ungracious and unnecessary. To be fair to the EU Council president, he probably felt that too much time has been wasted on courtesies and kowtowing.

It is true, there are far more important things to worry about than bruised egos or hurt feelings.

All the same, Mrs May has demanded respect, calling on the EU to present proposals for a Br exit agreement, given that it has so unceremoniously rejected her Chequers plan.

It can not have come as a shock, having been told what she was offering from Downing Street was unacceptable, to hear it was still unpalatable when she got to Salzburg.

In any event, Brussels has presented clear proposals, but Mrs May now says no progress can be made until she hears something new from the EU.

And there’ s the rub: what the EU wants and what Mrs May want are diametrically opposite.

There was talk in London of Mrs May having been humiliated. That is to be regretted, but it is hard to bear rejection with dignity.

Let’s be clear: Ireland needs Britain to get a good deal.

But let us also be clear: Mrs May has painted herself into a corner, boxed off by her own red lines.

It is time for parliament to play a role in resolving this and not leave Mrs May turning on a spit.

The British people voted in the largest democratic exercise in their history. Yet it is clear precisely what they were voting for was never fully understood. Even at this remove, Mrs May’s government can not get unanimity on what it will support.

It is Mrs May who is insisting on terms. She has dismissed the Norway option, or a Canada-style deal.

The immovable object is butting heads with the irresistible force, virtually guaranteeing a no-deal Brexit.

Surely the issues now need to be thrashed out in parliament so that the democratic process can run its full course.

Britain wishes to go, yet keep access to the customs union; to the EU, this is having one’s gateau and eating it.

It is hard to be taken seriously while maintaining a hokey-cokey stance of one shoe in and one shoe out.

One accepts Mrs May’s sincerity in insisting that she would never sign off on a plan to “break up my country”.

But there is no such plan. To assume that is to diverge from the facts. What there are, however, are consequences from the British decision to exit the EU. The reality of this is coming home.

But it is important to remember that it is impossible to paint a closed door. Both sides have to be open.

It is hard to be taken seriously with a hokey-cokey stance of one shoe in and one shoe out