Back from the dead, Mrs May MUST make the most of her triumph

THERESA MAY’S Brexit triumph will, I am sure, be considered to be one of the most epic personal comebacks in the annals of British political history.

remember, it’s barely eight weeks since the Prime Minister’s gleeful enemies were proverbially hammering nails into her political coffin.

Mrs May’s most poisonous and unpatriotic critics likened the fate of her Government to the corpse-strewn finale of the Sixties’ horror movie Night Of The Living Dead.

George Osborne, sacked by the Prime Minister as Chancellor last year and a deeply embittered man, said he would not rest until she was ‘chopped up in bags in my freezer’.

Such odious comments apart, it must be admitted that over the past few weeks there have been many times when Mrs May did, indeed, look doomed.

She has been struggling since her wretched failure to increase the Conservatives’ majority in the summer’s general election forced her to head a minority Government.

Her nightmare speech to the Tory Party conference was a particular low point. Losing her voice mid-speech and forced into long periods of silence, it was excruciating to watch her because it symbolised perfectly a premiership which seemed to have lost its way.

In the days that followed, even her closest admirers feared she might be finished. They held their breath as her enemies and critics in the media bayed for a resignation statement from a broken Prime Minister.

HOWEVER, the moment never came. Mrs May, it seems, is made of sterner stuff. Indeed, as we have learned in the 15 months she became Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa Mary May, with her experience, intellect and determination, may prove to be the best qualified leader to steer this country through turbulent and divisive times. Slowly, despite many setbacks, she has rebuilt her position.

As recently as last Monday, there was another huge hurdle she had to overcome.

The Democratic Unionist Party, upon whose support her Government depends for its very survival, pulled the plug at the last moment on what she hoped would be a conclusive deal with Brussels. Once again, as Mrs May was forced to steel herself against the possibility of defeat, the vultures hovered. Her enemies said it was all over for the Prime Minister as a Brexit deal was impossible.

How typically undignified of Mr Osborne, scenting blood, to speak of ‘ humiliation’ and the ‘folly’ of her leadership. He even had the arrogance to speak of his own possible political comeback. In the small hours of yesterday morning, Mrs May proved all the Jeremiahs wrong. She struck the deal that her opponents said was out of the question.

Of course, the Prime Minister has conceded a great deal in the transitional arrangement she has made with Brussels. The European Court of Justice will continue to hold sway in Britain until 2027. It seems the Irish government has been given a veto over the terms with which Britain leaves Europe — though I suspect this is a manageable problem.

What’s more, Britain’s estimated £39 billion divorce payment looks excessive. Nonetheless, a truly momentous deal has been struck. Now, at last, we can move confidently on to the next stage. Such an achievement is thanks to the steady nerve and steely resolution of the Prime Minister at a time of unimaginable difficulty. Mrs May has shown considerable cunning and dexterity — above all by keeping Brexiteers Boris Johnson and Michael Gove onside.

A resignation from either man would have caused a major political explosion. Thanks to Mrs May’s skilful handling, that pitfall has been avoided.

And how deftly she has neutered Labour. After months of bluster and shambolically contradictory policy statements on Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn was reduced yesterday to muttering a few words about the need for ‘mutual benefit, free trade and proactive internationalisation’.

WHAT waffle! Leaving Corbyn trailing, Mrs May will now endeavour to keep Britain on this pragmatic and cautious path. This will be shaped in her own steady image.

And yesterday’s triumph offers her another bonus.

This is her moment of maximum political strength. Not only is she able to spell out with more confidence and detail her vision of what Brexit means, but she has the opportunity to execute the imaginative Cabinet reshuffle that the Government desperately needs.

For the first time in a year, Mrs May is in control of political events. However, she must seize the chance because the moment won’t last.

I don’t want to overdo the optimism. Theresa May has made some major concessions to Brussels in order to advance to the next stage of the negotiating process.

There is a danger, too, that Britain could end up subject to Brussels rules and regulations without having any say in how they are created. Since we remain subject to the European Court of Justice rulings for several years after Brexit, European laws will apply even though Britain no longer has a say in how they are made. But such questions are for another day.

Lazarus-like, Theresa May is back from the dead.

Still more importantly, her vision of a sensible, pragmatic Brexit is back on course.