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Theresa May has made the enormous decision this week to abandon her entire Brexit strategy and enter into talks with Jeremy Corbyn. The aim of these talks is, ostensibly, to find a cross
party solution to the current crisis which can win a majority in the House of Commons. Unsurprisingly, the move has infuriated Conservative grassroots members up and down the country (90 per
cent disagree with the decision), and according to the Telegraph, the Tories are now facing obliteration in the polls. So why has the prime minister settled on this drastic course of
action? Does she genuinely believe that it will yield positive results? That seems unlikely. Jeremy Corbyn’s mindset is not conducive to productivity: he truly believes that the Tories are
evil, clearly doesn’t set much store by cross party conversation (last month he refused to speak at a meeting due to the presence of Chuka Umunna), and has no desire to throw Theresa May a
lifeline. The prime minister knows all that, but is pressing ahead anyway. Why? Well, first and foremost, she is desperate to break down Labour’s wall of constructive ambiguity.
Infuriatingly for the Conservatives, the Labour Party has spent the last three years pouring cold water all over Tory Brexit strategy, while keeping its own powder remarkably dry. The
ingenious Brexit policy peddled by Corbyn’s party – retaining elements of the Single Market (popular among young, Metropolitan remainers) but navigating around free movement (deeply
unpopular in Northern Labour heartland seats) – has already been flatly ruled out by the EU, but until now, Labour has succeeded in keeping that salient fact pretty much under wraps. By
inviting Corbyn to participate in talks, May hopes that the Leader of the Opposition will finally be forced to tie himself to a workable strategy: one which alienates either his youthful fan
club in the South, or else his reliable working class voters further North. It’s entirely understandable, and one can sympathise with May’s frustrations. But, as Paul Goodman points out on
Conservative Home, it’s likely to backfire. Most of the electorate are not political commentators, and won’t be following what’s going on in minute detail. What they will be seeing, if they
follow politics at all, is the Prime Minister first denouncing the Labour leader as the devil, and then inviting him to dine in Downing Street without preparing, apparently, to use a long
spoon. “Don’t go anywhere near Corbyn – or his supporters,” Tory canvassers will be saying on the doorstep in the upcoming local election campaign. To which voters will surely reply: “why
not? Your own leader is.” But if that part of the plan is bad, the other part is worse. Worryingly, it looks as though the prime minister could see these talks as a way of clinging on to
office for a little longer. EU leaders, who’ve never quite grasped the adversarial nature of Westminster politics, can’t understand why the Prime Minister has not reached out across party
lines before now – and are beginning to get fed up with what they see as her intransigence. May knows that even if her talks with Corbyn are doomed to fail, being seen to engage will send
the right message to Barnier, Tusk et al, and as long as they are prepared to talk to her, she can hold on in Number 10. And bizarre though it might seem to you and me, Theresa May is keen
to stay put. Admirably or foolishly, whichever way you look at it, the prime minister has dedicated her entire life to Westminster politics in a way even the most committed parliamentarians
would struggle to understand. She spent her childhood stuffing envelopes for the Conservative party; met her husband at a Conservative party student disco; became a Conservative councillor
when she was just 29, and has few friends, or even serious interests, outside of Westminster. Of course, she feels that she has a duty to sort out Brexit for the country, but she also feels
– and perhaps more strongly – that she has a duty to herself to stick at the job she wanted so desperately for so long. Over and over again, the Prime Minister has proved that she is
prepared to lose anything and everything – her political dignity, her principles, her Brexit secretaries – in exchange for a bit more time in power. Could the perplexing decision to join
forces with Corbyn be – at least in part – yet another ruse to delay her resignation? One way and another, Theresa May’s sudden desire to ingratiate herself with the opposition looks ominous
in the extreme. There’s a chance that I’m wrong, of course; the ongoing talks could go swimmingly, and by next week, we might all be raising a glass to best buddies Theresa May and Jeremy
Corbyn, the heroes who worked together to save the country. But don’t put money on it.