Jeremy Corbyn isn’t going to save Theresa May’s career over Brexit

For Theresa May, facing up to reality is a daunting challenge, so who can blame her for trying to break it down into more manageable chunks?

Tomorrow she will give a speech in which she will admit that “the reality I now face as Prime Minister is rather different”, as a consequence of throwing her parliamentary majority away in an almost unprecedented act of electoral self-harm.

But, not content with purchasing £1bn worth of Northern Irish parliamentary ballast, her latest play for strength and stability will come via a direct appeal to the opposition.

“My commitment to change Britain is undimmed,” she will say, apparently untroubled by the electorate’s violent wrench on the dimmer switch. Now that the voters have said no to the offer to strengthen Theresa May’s hand, she appears to be of the view that Jeremy Corbyn will come to her aid instead.

“At this critical time in our history, we can either be timid or we can be bold,” she will say. “We can play it safe or we can strike out with renewed courage and vigour, making the case for our ideas and values and challenging our opponents to contribute, not just criticise.”

These are plainly the ramblings of a mad woman, for whom reality lurks far beyond the distant horizon.

It is almost too tedious to have to repeat that, in her one-note election campaign, Theresa May could not have framed the question to the voters any clearer. “Here is my vision for Brexit,” she said, “Now let me get on with it.”

The voters said no.

There is also the unfortunate fact that Jeremy Corbyn also set out very clearly his own vision to strike out for with renewed courage and vigour, which proved not wholly unpopular with the voters, and, unburdened by any desire or commitment whatsoever to remain in the European Union, stands only one gentle and not altogether unlikely political earthquake away from wandering into 10 Downing Street to get on with it.

If you don’t have time to watch the speech tomorrow, or read the extracts of it that have been released today, a suitable alternative would be merely to watch that short clip of Theresa May before the election saying “Nothing has changed, nothing has changed” over and over again for however long you do have.

Even now, Theresa May intends to utter such words as “fulfilling the promise of Brexit together”. Only this morning – and this morning is no different from any other – to take just two examples, the widely respected former boss of Sainsbury’s warns that Brexit will make supermarkets “more expensive” and with “less choice” and “poorer quality” and confirmation of the Government’s plan to withdraw from the European nuclear regulator Euratom has been labelled “complete bullshit” by none other than Dominic Cummings, the former head of Vote Leave.

“A year ago, I stood outside Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister, and I set out the defining characteristics of the Government I was determined to lead,” she will say. “A clear understanding that the EU referendum result was not just a vote to leave the European Union, but a deeper and more profound call for change across our country.”

What is abundantly clear is that the country does not share this vision. It is also unfortunate that any noble plans to rebalance the national economy, to make the country’s wealth as equitably distributed as, say, Germany, would have been significantly easier to achieve from inside the European Union. Indeed, meaningful work was being done on the issue by the then-Chancellor, who is now (amongst other things) editing a newspaper instead.

Some credit must be given, presumably, to a Prime Minister, who has worked out that, having lost seats and a majority in an election, the people might not be on her side.

When she eventually comes to realise that, shock horror, the opposition, led by a man with a lifelong loathing of Conservatives, and a passionate aversion to all they stand for, isn’t on her side either, we can only speculate as to who she might turn to for help next. Jean-Claude Juncker perhaps?