Time’s nearly up

Yet another crunch week looms in the great Brexit saga. So many deadlines have been breached and clocks run down to zero that it is hard to know any more whether the finale has been reached or this is just another stage in the torment. On Friday, the UK will leave the EU without a deal (something that should have happened on March 29), unless two things occur. Either Parliament finally unites around an agreed approach, which seems unlikely, or there is a further extension to the Article 50 process, possibly for a year or more.

There is, however, another option which is being talked about openly for the first time, and that is to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit. Rebecca Long-bailey, the Labour shadow cabinet member involved in the talks with Theresa May, said this cannot be ruled out since Labour’s absolute red line is that there cannot be a no-deal departure. In any case, this is explicitly ruled out by the Bill introduced by the backbenchers who have seized control of Brexit from the Government.

The Prime Minister is travelling to Brussels on Wednesday for an emergency meeting at which she will be a supplicant and will have to accept whatever the EU decides in terms of an extension to the UK’S membership. They are expected to insist that any delay should last a year or more, and the UK will then need to contest the European elections in May. The PM has thrown her party into turmoil by seeking Jeremy Corbyn’s help to find a way forward. If those talks fail, where does she go then?

There is something almost surreal about politicians talking about seeking this option or arguing for that alternative, as though they have all the time in the world. They have two days.