The prime minister made a statement to parliament yesterday but it's very hard to find any serious reporting of it or even comment on it. The only reference to it is in a piece by John Crace (HERE) in The Guardian, essentially taking the mickey out of the Maybot as Crace refers to her. I don't think the press is bored with Brexit since there are plenty of other references to it elsewhere but rather that Theresa May bores the press, even her cheerleaders at the Mail, Sun and Telegraph.
The statement and questions that followed did not illuminate the deal she signed last Friday in any way. But there were several notable aspects to her performance at the despatch box. Firstly, as several Labour MPs said, was the odd sight of both Ken Clarke and Ian Duncan-Smith welcoming the deal. It was a measure of how much fudge and obfuscation had been fitted into the deal and indeed, may have been the main purpose of it.
Secondly, she maintained the contradictions around the Irish border, that it would not be hard but also that each side would be under different, but possibly aligned, regulations and custom regimes. Nobody has a clue how this miracle will be achieved, least of all Mrs May herself. If the brightest minds on both sides of the Channel examine a problem for eighteen months and cannot see a solution, most people would think there isn't one, rather than sign an international treaty-like document essentially based on it.
And while Labour MPs tried to nail her down on the details (and failed) the Conservatives were exactly like the managerial class that they are and quite content to assume that someone, somewhere would come up with something at some point in the future before it was actually needed. Of course, if they don't, it will be their fault.
Mrs May even alluded to the position paper that DEXEU produced (HERE) in the summer as if it represented a possible solution. No one thinks it was ever a serious runner.
In so far as the deal last week is seen as a triumph for the PM it tells us how difficult the task ahead will be. She has struggled with immense difficulties for nine months and managed to just get to the first base camp. How she will manage when the actual climb begins is anybody's guess but don't hold your breath. Ambiguity can only take us so far.
