It’s a shame she was not in the Lords to hear this

It seems silly now. Actually, it seemed fairly silly even at the time, but events since have only made it look sillier. How strange it feels, to recall that on Feb 20 2017, Theresa May strode into the House of Lords and took up position beside the throne, just as peers began their first debate on Brexit.

Her aim was obvious. She meant to intimidate peers. To deter them from contradicting her. To show them who was boss.

Fifteen months later, it seems reasonable to conclude that her strategy has not, on the whole, gone entirely to plan. Yesterday, peers inflicted yet another round of defeats on the Government over its Brexit policy. On this occasion, Mrs May was not present. Probably for the best. It’s unlikely she would have enjoyed herself.

For one thing, she would quickly have wearied of the numerous peers rising to insist that they had no intention of making trouble. The Lord Bishop of Leeds protested that he was not “a hypocritical Remoaner intent on sabotaging the Bill and preventing Brexit from ever happening”; why, he merely wished to “assist the Government”.

The ninth Duke of Wellington agreed. “It should be recognised by ministers that we are trying to help the Government,” he said, with a hurt-looking frown. That, he explained, was why he wanted the Government to delete the official leaving date of March 29 2019 from the Brexit Bill; it was simply to give ministers “the opportunity to think again”, just in case for any reason they needed to delay Brexit a bit. That was all. He was only trying to help. Couldn’t the Government see? Honestly. You’d think they’d be grateful.

Some peers, however, openly dared to dream that Brexit could be stopped.

Voters were experiencing “a firm feeling of second

‘She meant to intimidate peers. To deter them from contradicting her’

thoughts”, declared crossbencher Lord Dykes. He didn’t actually supply any evidence of this, but Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour) was clearly convinced. “I’m certain we are not going to be leaving,” he trumpeted. So certain, in fact, that he offered to bet Lord Callanan – a Brexit minister – £10 that the UK would still be in the EU on March 30 2019.

Lord Callanan declined. He wasn’t sure “whether the rules of the House permit gambling”, he explained.

As the debate wore on, the mood grew volatile. Lord Forsyth (a Tory Brexiteer) sounded livid. His fellow peers, he snarled, were undermining the Government.

“If anybody’s undermining the Government, it’s the Foreign Secretary!” barked Lord Cormack (a Tory Remainer). The Cabinet, he snapped, had been “rent asunder” by Boris Johnson telling a newspaper that morning that Mrs May’s customs plan was “crazy”.

On second thoughts: what a pity Mrs May wasn’t present this time. At that particular moment, at least, it would have been fascinating to see her face.