British newspapers are divided on how much blame should be laid at the door to Number Ten after the latest delay to Brexit.
Prime Minister Theresa May struck a deal with the EU last night that will give the UK Government another six months to try and agree on an exit deal with the European Union and push it through Parliament.
The six-month delay to Brexit has moved the departure date to 31 October, Halloween, unless an EU review of the process on 30 June changes matters.
The Daily Mail front page said the delay was a “Brexit Halloween nightmare” but its leader column did not pin the blame on Theresa May.
It said: “For nearly three years, the Prime Minister has shown extraordinary stamina and perseverance trying to disentangle the country from the tentacles of Brussels.
“But despite Mrs May’s battle to secure an orderly Brexit, intractable MPs snubbed her deal – even though it meant regaining control of our money, laws and borders.”
The Express front page said May was “facing down” backbench Tory MPs asking her to quit.
The Sun took a harder line on the delay, using its leader column to push the Prime Minister to “make a dignified and voluntary exit” while she still could.
The paper said: “The Tory Party is in meltdown. The Government is paralysed, impotent and plummeting in the polls, as The Sun predicted it would if it failed on Brexit.
“Their only hope, and Britain’s — since the alternative is Marxism and poverty — is a new leader. With a new Cabinet, new energy, new ideas for tackling our problems, more voter appeal and, we hope, some new Brexit strategy.”
After rhetorically asking what May was waiting for, the paper added: “It is surely better to make a dignified and voluntary exit while she still can.”
The Times took a similar stance on the Prime Minister, arguing that May should leave the post if she fails to get a majority for her deal following the Article 50 extension.
It said: “If the parliamentary process fails again, she should accept that the national interest requires her to step down, to make way for a new Prime Minister and a new strategy.”
The Telegraph was more searing about the state of May’s premiership in the wake of the long pause on Brexit.
It described her leadership as “almost tragi-comic” and a series of “missed deadlines, broken promises … and botched negotiations” before questioning why anyone should take her latest timetable seriously.
Away from the right wing press, The Guardian took a familiar stance on Brexit in an editorial published yesterday evening.
The newspaper said that the “wiser path” to follow in the Brexit delay would involve a “reset” of partnerships with EU member states “in a more constructive spirit” before saying that May and the Conservative Party were “incapable of following it”.
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