Britain | Of balls, courts and no deals

Theresa May’s weakness at home is slowing down the Brexit talks

An embattled Tory prime minister faces make-or-break European Union talks. Sounds familiar?

THE parallels are almost oppressive. Successive Tory leaders, from Margaret Thatcher to David Cameron, have experienced painful party rifts over Europe. The most telling was John Major’s battle in the 1990s with anti-EU Tory rebels over the Maastricht treaty, which set up the single currency. Now, as Theresa May fends off coup attempts from her own backbenchers, Tim Bale, a historian of the Conservative Party at Queen Mary University of London, detects a whiff of those days in the air. Indeed, many ardent Brexiteers cut their teeth causing trouble then.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Of balls, courts and no deals”

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