Thread by @Staedtler

So. Boris Johnson's objections to the withdrawal agreement. Why he'll vote against it and presumably bring a large chunk of votes along with him.

1. The 39 bn quid. He demands that should be linked explicitly to a trade agreement

2. The current withdrawal agreement is vague and ambiguous. It should place Europe under legal obligation to negotiate a trade agreement.

3. Is chequers even still alive? No one knows. Any hint of dual tariff schemes needs killing off.

4. The transition phase seems only to provide a persistent vegetative state, locked in the legal circuit of the European Union but with no influence and no way out.

5. And he won't let Theresa May have a general election either.

If those are his objections ( whether real or cosmetic) is there anything she can do about it?
1. Withholding payment is a bit of a risk, especially if we won't honour what we've agreed. A risk, but not impossible. After Theresa May's caution there might be a mood for such a risk

2. This puts May in an impossible position. He's demanding that Europe accept a legal obligation to provide a new trade agreement after we've left.
Europe will never accept that obligation, so May is guaranteed to fail on that point.

3. Actually number 3 on Johnson's hit list is perfectly sensible. Splitting the country in two tariff regimes and trying to keep them in quarantine from each other is a recipe for nightmare

4. The backstop again. Again, it's a booby trap hit list because May can never escape that backstop that she agreed many months ago.

5. And if the Tories won't let Theresa May another election, there is nothing she can do.

It's not a very elegant checkmate, but Johnson has boxed her in.
Her available moves now are down to nil. She can't get a withdrawal agreement, and she can't have a general election.

The only thing she can do now is resign - like I said all along.