OF course, in the end the collapse came as no great surprise.
The cross-party talks had always seemed like the Conservatives and Labour were engaged in a Brexit charade.
The body language and, indeed, the language from both sides before and after every Whitehall meeting gave no one any real hope Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn would one day stand on the steps of Downing St and declare a compromise had been done.
Ministers were privately saying throughout the talks were doomed; politically, there was nothing in them for the Labour leader.
READ MORE: Nigel Farage says Scottish independence within EU is 'most dishonest discourse I've ever seen'
For the PM’s part, it was the Labour split over a second referendum that caused the collapse; for Mr Corbyn’s, it was the fact that any deal agreed with Mrs May could be ripped up a few weeks down the line by her successor. Both were valid points.
So, what now? The PM had promised to set up a series of indicative votes, later described as “definitive votes,” to see which option could gain a consensus in the Commons. But Mrs May’s pledge, that the Government would abide by any consensus MPs agreed on, had one condition; that Mr Corbyn would also agree to it.
Yet, when asked about the definitive votes exercise, the Labour leader gave a non-committal response. Indeed, a senior No 10 source made clear no decision had been made to stage the options process.
With only next week available to hold such a round of votes, the Government will have to pull its finger out.
Then, of course, next week there are the European elections; the Tories are bracing themselves for disaster. One poll suggested six out of 10 Conservative supporters will vote for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.
READ MORE: Brexit timeline ahead
After that there is the crunch vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, scheduled for the week of the Trump state visit when over two days the US President, Mrs May and other world leaders will commemorate the sacrifice of thousands of allied soldiers during WW2.
One minister suggested the vote might never take place; that after the Euro-poll drubbing Cabinet ministers might seek to “put the PM out of her misery” and demand their leader steps down before she suffers another Commons humiliation.
Whenever Mrs May bids goodbye to Downing St, the summer will be filled with another psychodrama: the Conservative beauty contest. Be warned it could drag on for months.
A Tory source suggested the “stop Boris campaign” will be cross-border and subtle rather than full-throated; no Conservative wants to arm Nicola Sturgeon and her “demonising” of the former Foreign Secretary any more than is necessary.
READ MORE: Runners and riders in Tory leadership contest
But if Mr Johnson gets into the final two candidates’ play-off, then the thinking is he will win given he is the darling of the English shire Tories.
With no agreement, the new PM will have to have a new strategy as the clock ticks towards the EU’s deadline of Hallowe’en.
The choice could be no-deal or revocation. Yet another horrifying prospect for most MPs and the public. If you thought things were bad now…
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel