Dangerous drama is tawdry and absurd

WHAT on earth is the ordinary voter on the Clapham Omnibus – not to mention the Edinburgh tramway, Scarborough funicular or Isle of Wight ferry – supposed to make of the latest twists in Westminster’s increasingly bizarre soap opera?

A Prime Minister held virtual hostage in Number 10 by an opposition which refuses to allow him the escape tunnel of an election.

MPs (and a former Attorney-General) threatening Boris Johnson with prison if he refuses to do their bidding and request a Brexit extension.

All sides trying to inveigle a reluctant judiciary into ruling on issues which are the clear domain of Parliament.

And Labour now saying that if elected, it may agree with Brussels a version of Theresa May’s deal, which it trashed three times in the Commons. It would then call a second referendum, repudiate the deal again, and campaign for Remain.

In truth, this is not so much a soap opera as the theatre of the absurd – with the public watching dumbfounded from the sidelines.

The latest development was the rather ostentatious resignation yesterday of Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd. Articulate and engaging, she is undoubtedly a loss to Mr Johnson.

She accuses him of ‘political vandalism’ in sacking 21 rebel Tory MPs and claims he’s not trying hard enough to secure a deal.

There is an element of truth in the former. Some of Downing Street’s tactics have been unnecessarily confrontational and the purge was brutal.

But Mr Johnson has made no secret of the fact he wants Britain to leave the EU on October 31 ‘do or die’. The rebel Tories were trying specifically stop him doing that. Was he supposed to ignore them?

There’s no doubt Miss Rudd’s resignation – in both its language and its timing – was designed to cause Mr Johnson maximum damage. But it has also intensified the civil war within the party, which plays into the hands of the opposition.

Writing in the Mail today, her fellow Remain-inclined minister Nicky Morgan showed there is a better way. She too is concerned about the consequences of No Deal, believes there should be more transparency over Brexit deal discussions, and regrets the departure of ‘talented colleagues’.

But rather than flounce out of government, she chooses to ‘stay inside the room’ and argue her case in Cabinet. That surely is what grown-up politics is all about.

Mr Johnson is in talks with Irish premier Leon Varadkar today in a bid to find a way past the backstop impasse, while in Westminster the Bill to outlaw No Deal is due to receive Royal Assent.

So as we approach the endgame in this Brexit chess match, all Tories must think very carefully before seeking to topple their own king.

The result would almost certainly be the death of Brexit. And quite possibly the death of their party as they know it.