The PM’S plan which shall remain nameless must now be ditched, writes Brian Monteith

C-word at all. If the Tory leader cannot talk to the party faithful about the core policy that defines what her Government is doing on the biggest issue facing the nation in a generation, then it must be concluded that the leader has lost her authority and must find a way to change without losing face – or be removed. Her Chequers Plan was the elephant in the room and it is a white elephant at that.

The main problem with Chequers is its agreement to a common rule book, which is essentially the EU’S current laws – and any others it cares to come up with, but without our future say in the matter. It is the common rule book that will ensure no free trade deals are possible and how other restrictions to decide our own laws will remain in place.

Now the gossip in the background is that May is looking to find a way to pivot towards a Canada-style trade agreement after European Council President Donald Tusk reminded everyone it is still on the table. To help ease that process, the European Research Group of Conservative backbenchers has signalled it would support ingenious ways of allowing customs and regulatory checks on UK soil, based on the Le Touquet agreement between France and the UK. This is the arrangement whereby customs officials from either country can check passports and vehicles on the other nation’s territory either side of the Eurotunnel to facilitate speedy processing.

This approach, along with other technical solutions already suggested by the European Research Group in a detailed paper published last month, should also form the basis for settling the concerns raised by the Irish Republic and the EU about the Irish border with the UK.

This is important because the