Brexit needs more than a cloud of gas

THERESA MAY was seen apparently confronting EU Commission President JeanClaude Juncker after he complained of “nebulous and imprecise debate”.

The Prime Minister has many formidable attributes. Even her rivals salute her tenacity and resilience.

But many people who have followed each twist of the Brexit debate may find it ironic if Mrs May takes umbrage at the term “nebulous”.

If you are looking for a classic example of a politician engaging in wilfully obfuscatory and tautological language it was when she deployed her “Brexit means Brexit” catchphrase in 2016.

A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas, and that is a perfect description of what Mrs May provided when asked for details of her Brexit strategy and vision. The high-handed refusal to give a “running commentary” on Brexit negotiations masked the fact that the UK was hurtling towards the present crisis.

It was clear when she was crowned as David Cameron’s successor that Britain’s departure from the EU would define her premiership but she did not deign to detail – or consult on – what she had in mind during the leadership contest, the run-up to triggering the two-year Article 50 process in March 2017, or even that year’s election campaign.

She encouraged the Tory right to think she was prepared to walk away from talks with her soundbite that “no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal” – a reckless act of gamesmanship – but she declined to set in motion the scale of preparatory work required for a hard Brexit to be anything other than a dangerous fiasco.

The 2017 election showed that voters’ patience was wearing thin – especially when policy confusion extended beyond Brexit to areas as sensitive as personal care with the imbroglio over the so-called “dementia tax” – and she lost the Tories their majority. She then proceeded to produce a White Paper (the “Chequers” plan) and a Withdrawal Agreement which are utterly unacceptable to the DUP and her most pro-Brexit MPs.

The frustration she has engendered in her own party was powerfully demonstrated this week when 117 Conservative MPs voted against her in the confidence ballot. Rather than put the Withdrawal Agreement to a vote, she is now straining to somehow engineer a majority she will desperately hope does not prove nebulous.