How long can May keep up her Brexit poker face?

It’s OK keeping your cards close to your chest, like the UK at the Brexit negotiating table, but you can only pull it off for so long without raising suspicion.

“We will not take decisions until we are ready. We will not reveal our hand prematurely,” she declared.

“We will not provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of the negotiations.”

In other words, ‘I’m in charge and I’ll tell you when I’ll tell you’.

Mrs May was resilient in her refusal to say whether she wanted the UK to remain in the European single market – a point repeatedly raised during her second Prime Minister’s Questions.

It’s obvious she wants and intends to keep her cards close to her chest. But surely she can only maintain her poker face for so long?

And cer tainly not throughout the two- year negotiation period to kick in once Article 50 is triggered, which she has indicated will not come before the

Theresa May. end of this year. The pressure from the Liberal Democrats, SNP and some in Labour – if not leader Jeremy Corbyn, who chose to ignore Brexit entirely at PMQs – is only going to increase, as well as from the Brexiteers in her own party.

So while she might be wise to shy away from providing a “running commentary” as she put it, the now notso- new Tory leader cannot adopt a policy of “n o commentary whatsoever”, to borrow a quote from SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson.

T h e re cannot b e, as Ni c o l a Sturgeon said, a “cloud of secrecy” hanging over the UK Government’s negotiating position. At some point – it has to rain. It’s true that a key ingredient to a successful negotiation is not to give away your hand too soon.

But it’s equally true to say if you go into a negotiation with the impression you don’t know what you are doing, with no coherent plan, the other side will turn you over.

So Mrs May will need to make sure she and her Brexit secretary – as well as BoJo and Fox – are singing from the same hymn sheet.

Mr Davis will have to be armed with more than his opinions when he does eventually get his feet under the negotiating table. If indeed that’s what they were . . . Since embarking on the top job, Mrs May has been accused of being a control freak, keen to manage everything to the nth degree.

With that in mind, it’s tempting to believe Mr Davis’s opinions are not substantially different to her own views.

She was, after all, the reluctant Remainer during the EU referendum campaign.

And, unlike in the case of some of her other ministers, she didn’t have to bring Mr Davis into the ring; she chose to.

It’s also worth remembering that – however loud the clamour about the importance of remaining within the single market – it’s not simply about what we want.

There will be equally loud, competing voices on the pitch.

So, far from being controversial when he cast doubt on the UK’s ability to remain a member and simultaneously secure curbs on free movement, perhaps Mr Davis was just being realistic? SNP MSP James Dornan has written to the UK Government demanding a rethink on a new post-study visa scheme.

The previous scheme allowed international students to remain in the UK for two years after graduating but was axed in 2012.

Mr Dornan said: “The Tory rules on international students have been harming the education sector – and with Theresa May’s lack of clarity on how Brexit will impact on EU students and staff; our universities deserve better than to be put to the back of the queue.” NEARLY 6000 EU nationals work in Scotland’s universities.

The figure was unveiled by the Lib Dems as the party warned uncertainty over residency status of EU citizens could have a chilling effect on higher education.

The party’s Tavish Scott MSP said: “More than a quarter of staff at Edinburgh University are from EU states.

“Other universities across Scotland employ hundreds of EU nationals, too.

“University staff from across Europe are an integral and welcome part of academic life in Scotland.”

■