Brexit ball is now in the hardliners’ court

AWAY from the sweltering heat of Sharm el Sheikh, Theresa May yesterday found herself in another hothouse: the febrile intensity of the Commons chamber.

In an atmosphere of shrill rowdiness, the Prime Minister was forced into a dramatic U-turn on her plans to quit the EU.

More than 100 times, she has vigorously insisted that Britain will leave the sclerotic bloc on March 29, with or without an agreement (a stance, incidentally, backed overwhelmingly by MPs in 2017 when they triggered Article 50 – the legal instrument for our departure).

Maintaining the threat of a No Deal Brexit (as any poker player can attest) gave No 10 enormous clout in negotiations.

Like the potency of military force, it was imperative to instil a seed of doubt that – while undesirable – it could actually be deployed.

With the EU at risk of tipping into recession, and confronting the loss of a £39billion divorce bill, its leaders might have been encouraged to offer concessions, especially on the deeply unpopular Irish backstop.

But in the high-stakes game, mutinous Remain-supporting ministers blinked first. Holding Mrs May to ransom by warning of mass resignations if a clean break stayed on the table, they pulled the rug from under her feet.

Facing the collapse of her Government, she launched a bold counter-gambit to hold it together.

On March 12, MPs will vote on her deal, which – for all its shortcomings – honours the referendum result and delivers plenty that Tory Eurosceptics can support, not least ending free movement. If that fails, they will decide whether to pursue No Deal or request a three-month delay to Brexit.

Could this really work? With luck, it’ll break the Westminster impasse which has so dismayed the public, who simply want politicians to stop navel-gazing and line up behind a viable Brexit solution.

Despite striving relentlessly for a workable deal, Mrs May has been boxed in by the intractability of her MPs. Yes, she has climbed down – but for pragmatic and admirable reasons.

Compare and contrast that with Jeremy Corbyn’s dishonest antics. After promising to implement Brexit, the lifelong Eurosceptic committed Labour to holding a second referendum – taking Britain back to square one, unleashing more bitterness on our painfully divided country and damaging trust in democracy.

Breathtaking in his cynical expediency, the unreconstructed Marxist acted only to stem further defections – putting politics before the national interest, while throwing Labour Leave supporters under the bus.

(Meanwhile, how repulsive that ex-Labour MP Fiona Onasanya, fresh from a prison sentence for lying to police, could help decide the fate of Brexit, strolling through the division lobbies wearing an electronic tag).

The EU will, no doubt, be cock-a-hoop at the prospect of a delayed Brexit. Knowing we will eschew No Deal next month, why lift a finger to tweak the withdrawal agreement? Indeed, it may be emboldened to thwart our biggest ever democratic mandate.

Mrs May insists she will not extend Article 50 for ever – locking the country in a grim limbo. Writing in today’s Mail, she urges MPs to ‘hold their nerve’, confident London and Brussels can solve the backstop.

But in these same pages, arch-Brexiteer David Davis stingingly accuses her of sending the ‘wrong message’ to the EU after ‘capitulating to blackmail’ by Tory rebels. While we respect his views, it is essential that realpolitik wins the day.

Brexit hardliners in the European Research Group must grasp a simple fact. Only one deal delivers Brexit and that, of course, is Mrs May’s. Rejecting it will not only delay departure, it makes it more likely the prize will slip from their fingers.

The ball is now firmly in their court.