Is May’s Government In Real Trouble?

Yes. On three fronts. It cannot agree within itself what sort of Brexit to aim for. The EU on the other hand knows pretty well what it is willing to agree to. Negotiations are being conducted  to different agendas. There is an increasing fog developing about where we are and where we are headed. Whitehall is convulsed by the sheer scale of the greatest administrative upheaval in history.

The Tory party is beginning to split open. The hard Brexiteers are now openly at war with the soft Brexiteers and remainers. The Cabinet is now speaking with different voices. It is difficult to see how May can proceed without some kind of showdown with one side or the other. Meanwhile rumours of plots abound, although few can offer a clear and credible alternative. Perhaps it is the case that the Tory party and May are stuck with each other. But a split party faced with the challenge of Brexit, is a ship holed below the waterline.

Finally we come to the real crunch. This government is so distracted it appears unable to govern. The litany of crises in major public services is a daily chant across the media. That is where the danger lies for May. The country needs a government in Number Ten. At the moment it has an argument.