Whatever happens next, the nationalist right has lost the battle for Brexit | Martin Kettle

Talks with Labour and the extension represent a pro-European turning point, with a second vote more likely than ever

MPs’ reflex reaction to the new six-month Brexit delay was a very human one. They decided to take a break. They have awarded themselves an Easter chill-out, starting tomorrow, following the most punishing peacetime session of parliament in modern times. They need it. We all need it. Theresa May certainly needs it.

But they and we also need to use the Brexit break to relearn the art of thinking straight and seizing the moment. The delay imposed by the EU on Wednesday night was not simply another familiar can-kicking exercise. Instead it may mark a pro-European turning point in the battle of Brexit. It is a moment not of enduring impasse but of real opportunity.

For the right, the aim was to bend the Tory party to their obsessional will. Instead they have wrecked their party

Donald Tusk has proposed a 'flexible extension' to Article 50. Under the plan the UK’s nominal last day in the EU would likely be 10 April 2020, but Britain would be expected to leave well before then, as soon as a withdrawal agree had been ratified by the UK parliament.

Related: What does a Brexit delay mean for politics, business, citizens and the EU?

Continue reading...