Resilient Mrs May

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

Indeed, after riding countless storms that might have sunk a less resilient politician, Theresa May approaches the end of the year with her place at the helm looking remarkably secure. Apart from the handful of rebels 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 even optimists dared hope, clearing the way for vital trade talks with all her red lines in-tact. Whisper it softly but Britain may have a Prime Minister who means exactly 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 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 as chaotic as ever. Depending on which programme you tuned into yesterday, it either refuses to rule out a second referendum (deputy leader Tom Watson, BBC Radio 5 Live), or it has always ruled it out (home affairs spokesman Diane Abbott, BBC1 – though a fortnight ago, she seemed to say the opposite!) Memo to Mr Corbyn: Christmas in Downing Street may have to wait for a good many years yet.