Ostensibly, Theresa May went on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday to address all the listeners. In reality, however, her aim was to reach an audience of fewer than 200. The people she wanted to influence are the Conservative MPs who hold her government’s future in their hands next Tuesday in the votes on her Brexit deal.
Mrs May’s pitch was narrowly focused. She was now “talking to colleagues” about ways in which parliament might be involved in activating the Northern Ireland backstop – a clause in the withdrawal agreement whose purpose is to prevent the return of a physical border in Ireland following the post-Brexit transition between March 2019 and December 2020. MPs might, she suggested, be able to choose whether to enter the backstop or extend the transition a bit further. Translated, this meant that Mrs May wanted to appear open to marginal changes in her Brexit deal as a means of persuading some doubters to vote for it next week.
