May-Corbyn Brexit Talks Are Just a Sign of Exhaustion

When you hear that U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and her Labour Party rival Jeremy Corbyn are in talks, you can safely assume that May has exhausted every other option in her efforts to get a Brexit deal through Parliament. But it’s a measure of the damage wrought by Hurricane Brexit on Britain’s political landscape that even if there were a historic agreement between sworn political enemies this week, it’s likely to be a damp squib.

May has done everything to win political support for an agreement on divorce terms from the European Union that can be accepted by her own Conservative Party. She has tried to run down the clock and to wear down her opponents. She brokered deals among her own ministers that fell apart. She twisted arms, cajoled colleagues and lectured Parliament. Still, her Brexit agreement was rejected by the House of Commons three times.