Theresa May’s silent treatment

After an unflattering account of Theresa May’s dinner last week with Jean-Claude Jucker wound up in the German broadsheet FAZ, tensions between Brussels and Westminster have heightened. The briefing claimed that May ‘begged’ for help and appeared ‘tormented’ with ‘deep rings’ under her eyes. Keen to prove that he was not behind the leak, Juncker yesterday insisted that May ‘was in good shape, she was not tired’ – insisting the reports were untrue.

So, Mr S was intrigued to read Rachel Sylvester’s column in today’s Times. She claims that on the UK side, those who report meeting May recently describe her as ‘stricken and stunned’. She cites one particularly awkward encounter in No 10:

‘On one occasion she sat in silence for almost ten minutes while the visitor she had invited to see her waited for her to lead the conversation. He left the meeting deciding she no longer wanted to be prime minister.