Christmas cheer for a resilient Mrs May

rEMEMBEr six months ago, when Jeremy Corbyn was reported as boasting he’d be in Downing Street by Christmas? With just a week to go before the festivities, this paper thinks it more than safe to say the Labour leader was talking tripe.

Indeed, after riding storms that might have sunk a less resilient politician, Theresa May nears the end of the year with her place at the helm looking remarkably secure.

Apart from the handful of treacherous malcontents who sought to undermine her last week, her party is united behind her and holding its own in the polls. She has no credible rival in sight, and there is certainly no clamour to replace her.

Meanwhile, a newly confident Mrs May has secured a far better preliminary deal from Brussels than most dared hope, leaving all her red lines intact.

Nor does she show any sign of wavering over the key principles of Brexit. on the contrary, yesterday she restated them, insisting any deal must give us back control of our borders and laws, with the freedom to make our own trade pacts with anyone.

Whisper it softly, but Britain may have a Prime Minister who means what she says when she promises: ‘We will not be derailed from this fundamental duty to deliver the democratic will of the British people.’

True, EU negotiator Michel Barnier blusters that he won’t let Britain get away with a special deal tailored to our needs. But with 27 EU nations desperate for our money, markets and services, he risks finding himself heavily outnumbered.

As for Labour’s Brexit policy, this remains chaotic. Depending which programme you tuned into yesterday, the party either refuses to rule out a second referendum (deputy leader Tom Watson, BBC radio 5 Live), or does rule it out (home affairs spokesman Diane Abbott, BBC1 – though two weeks ago, she said the opposite!)

only on migration has the party been more consistent, with senior figures – Ms Abbott included – saying they want our borders to remain as open as possible. Thus, they betray traditional Labour supporters who put border controls high on their list of reasons for voting Leave. Memo to Mr Corbyn: Christmas in Downing Street may have to wait for a good many years yet.