Brexit deal lets May kick ‘questions of future’

Bloomberg

The nail-biting finish to the first chapter of Brexit negotiations has left many Conservative lawmakers praising Prime Minister Theresa May as a winner who had, in the words of one prominent member of her Cabinet, “confounded her critics.”
But like many of the key Brexit issues, the question of May’s future is merely delayed, not resolved and even the last-minute dash to Brussels highlighted her weaknesses as much as her strengths. The deal was supposed to have been done when she visited Belgium on
Monday, but once there she discovered she didn’t have the support of her
Democratic Unionist Party partners.
No Tory lawmakers publicly criticised the deal, even though it blurs many of their stated Brexit red lines. Some of the support was half-hearted and in the case of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson there was a hint of menace. Her chief whip Julian Smith tweeted a picture of May discussing the deal with the prominent “Brexiteer” and frequent mischief-maker.
He retweeted the image and responded: “Yes, great meeting with PM@theresa_may – found her totally determined that ‘full alignment’ means compatibility with taking back control of our money, laws and borders.” That reference to a line in the deal that
some Brexit-backers are already calling a betrayal could be read either as a
reassurance to them or a warning to May.
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson pointed out with a
tweet that there are “still problematic areas.” One of these is the European Court of Justice, a taboo for the ardent Brexit cheerleaders. He signed off with a warning: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
In spite of discontent with their leader among euroskeptic lawmakers — and in the absence of an obvious replacement — Tories appear willing to sit tight for now and see how things play out.
“Even the arch Brexiteers have had to face reality, which is that compromises have to be made,” said Tim Bale, who teaches politics at Queen Mary, University of London. “If Brexit is the prize, they have to keep their eyes on the prize.”
May can take comfort in the praise lavished on her as a “tough negotiator” by Jean-Claude Juncker over the week, suggesting that he doesn’t want to see her fail and get thrown overboard.
She also won some concessions: The sum the UK now says it will pay as part of its divorce settlement is lower than previously reported. The Brits — so
secretive on the so-called divorce bill
— let it be known their estimate is less than half the 100-billion-euro figures floated months ago.
May also secured Cabinet support for her deal, with senior ministers tweeting praise for the deal — though her former leadership rival Andrea Leadsom kept it to four words: “Well done Theresa May!”