Brexit is at an impasse. Today’s row between Theresa May and David Davis over the wording of a customs backstop ended with a fudge of a fudge of a fudge. This has only underlined just how difficult this government has found it to stick its Brexit colours to the mast. That is partly because of a disagreement within Cabinet. But it’s also the product of a hung Parliament that whatever the government agrees, a majority of MPs might take a different view and scupper the whole thing.
With the Brexit countdown clock ticking, a crucial series of votes on the EU withdrawal bill around the corner, and a council meeting at the end of the June, Theresa May is running out of time.
To help break the deadlock, Open Europe, a think tank that is home to some of the smartest thinking on UK-EU relations, this week published its blueprint for a deal that is a workable compromise in what is a fraught Brexit debate.
In a special Brexit edition of the Free Exchange podcast I spoke to Open Europe’s director Henry Newman about their proposal for a pragmatic deal with the EU as well as why Brexit has drifted so badly off course.
You can listen to the full episode here, or subscribe via iTunes.
