As ever great stuff from @tconnellyRTE on a Saturday morning regarding the Irish backstop. But we all seem to have different versions of what happened in talks last weekend - briefly this is mine below... rte.ie/news/brexit/20…
The version I heard was the Commission were confident that a 'technical' deal had been reached between negotiators (that is, the essentials of the backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement) and just needed the final political polish...
As we know there was increasing pressure on the PM from the ERG and DUP in the run-up to last weekend, and the belief is that this pressure worked in convincing the PM to withdraw what had been agreed...
This then leads to the non-event at the summit as leaders want to know what the PM is prepared to do next, and she can't say. The various options floating round, and the possibly fatal undermining of the PM's authority as she is seen to give way under pressure...
Finally, this also means that nobody knows what happens next. To satisfy Ireland the final deal will contain terms many in the ERG won't vote for. It looks like the PM continues to deny this, and hope something turns up. So now we wait but time is running out. /end
PS The latest "something" from the Sun this morning - a legal text that allows the UK to withdraw when we want. But then it isn't permanent. The EU has been flexible in allowing some UK-wide elements, but this would breach core principle.
