Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The Brady amendment gives Theresa May the strength to kick the can down the road

You could tell that the result of tonight’s vote on the Brady amendment (which calls for alternative arrangements to replace the Northern Irish backstop) came as a surprise to those at the top of government from the look on Chief Whip Julian Smith’s face as he re-entered the Commons. He looked as though he had spent the past few hours trapped in a ghost house of horrors at a funfair. Smith had, like his colleagues in Downing Street, thought that this amendment was going to fail with a narrow margin until minutes before the result was announced. Instead, it passed with a surprising majority of 16.

When Theresa May responded to this result in a point of order, the Prime Minister was visibly happy and relieved to have this opportunity to kick the Brexit can along the road for a little while longer.

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