DAN HODGES: Are Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn about to stitch up a Brexit deal ...

It was Labour MP Barry Gardiner who let the cat out of the bag. 

‘You, as a Brexit Minister, should understand,’ he snapped at Tory rival James Cleverly in the middle of the BBC’s local election night coverage. 

‘We are in there, trying to bail you guys out.’ That is, of course, not the public line. 

This morning, the nation is divided between the 52 per cent and 48 per cent. It could soon be united in antipathy towards two political leaders who have agreed to deliver a Brexit for the 0 per cent

This morning, the nation is divided between the 52 per cent and 48 per cent. It could soon be united in antipathy towards two political leaders who have agreed to deliver a Brexit for the 0 per cent

Jeremy Corbyn is supposed to be fighting with every fibre of his being to bring down the evil Theresa May regime and introduce a ‘jobs first Brexit’. But the reality is rather different.

A few months ago, the Labour leader spoke to one of his backbenchers who represents a solid Leave seat. 

‘He asked him if he would start to unofficially whip our other Brexit-supporting MPs to back May’s deal,’ a Shadow Minister privy to the approach tells me.

‘Jeremy wanted to move on from Brexit and thought the only way to do that was to get it over the line. But he couldn’t be seen to be helping dig a Tory Prime Minister out of a hole. So he said it all had to be done without it appearing he was behind it.’

Jeremy Corbyn is supposed to be fighting with every fibre of his being to bring down the evil Theresa May regime and introduce a ‘jobs first Brexit’. But the reality is rather different

Jeremy Corbyn is supposed to be fighting with every fibre of his being to bring down the evil Theresa May regime and introduce a ‘jobs first Brexit’. But the reality is rather different

The MP patiently explained that without the explicit endorsement of Corbyn and his team, there would be no way the plan could succeed. At which point it was quietly dropped and Britain’s Long Brexit Nightmare began.

This morning, Labour and the Tories are again thinking the unthinkable. In the wake of Thursday’s pummelling at the hands of the voters, Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May are seriously contemplating entering into an unholy Brexit alliance.

‘Brexit – sort it. Message received,’ tweeted Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell as the results were still coming in.

A Downing Street official concurred: ‘Both sides in the negotiations recognise we need to get this done now.’

For Labour, there is a simple rationale. Shunt Brexit to the margins and return to hammering the Tories on austerity and other ‘bread and butter’ issues.

‘If May does this, the betrayal and deceit will be complete,’ warns one senior ERG member. ‘We will be leaving 17.4 million votes to be scooped up by Nigel Farage. He’ll be salivating at the thought'

‘If May does this, the betrayal and deceit will be complete,’ warns one senior ERG member. ‘We will be leaving 17.4 million votes to be scooped up by Nigel Farage. He’ll be salivating at the thought'

‘For Jeremy’s team, it’s about getting back to the strategy that worked in the General Election,’ explains a Shadow Minister.

‘May wanted it to be all about Brexit. But we were successful in making it about cuts to public services and people’s pay packets. That’s the ground we need to be fighting on.’

For the Tories, it’s simply about damage limitation. Or normalisation. ‘The argument was that if we did a deal with Corbyn, it would split the party and everything would fall apart,’ explains a Minister. 

‘But the party is split and everything’s falling apart anyway. So the balance of opinion in the Cabinet is we might as well take the hit and move on.’

Despite that, there are still those in Downing Street who want to try to roll with the punch. According to one Cabinet Minister, ‘the idea is to try to find a way of limiting the level of Labour support required to get something through the House. 

If we can avoid it, we don’t want to be seen getting a deal through with the help of all the Labour MPs. We want to reach agreement with the sensible ones, rather than go walking through the lobbies with the nutcases’.

Whether such subterfuge will help slip a deal past an already enraged ERG and their followers is questionable. 

‘If May does this, the betrayal and deceit will be complete,’ warns one senior ERG member. ‘We will be leaving 17.4 million votes to be scooped up by Nigel

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