After today’s Cabinet, ministers are no clearer about what Theresa May’s intentions are. ‘Reading tea leaves would be easier’, remarks one Secretary of State.
This problem is demonstrated by the different messages those present took from the meeting. One Cabinet source said that May’s closing words about governing in the national interest ‘felt a bit like a farewell speech’. While another minister says that May ‘gave no impression of being off’.
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Part of the problem was that because May had to dash off for a phone call with Arlene Foster, the leader of the DUP, the meeting hadn’t drawn to its natural conclusion when it was brought to an end. As one of those present put it, the discussions about what happens if MV3 fails were ‘staring into the abyss’. There was, though, a sense that given the government couldn’t satisfy Letwin et al on indicative votes, it might be best to leave it to them.
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