Thread by @althecat

There is a detectable wry smile on @theresa_may's face as she thanks her departing Foreign and Brexit Secretarys' in a statement to a packed Westminster house. /1

Her statement on the Chequers Proposal is detailed, dense and nuanced - a bit like one of her set piece speeches, albeit with 90% less Cakeism. /2

This doesn't mean the EU will accept it of course. But that's an issue for another day. Right now it is telling that @LiamFox, the Brexiteer Trade Sec. is sitting beside her. /3

Without mentioning the U.S. Ambassador's intervention on trade negotiations today, the PM just announced that the UK intends to apply to join the Trans Pacific CTPP, an announcement that will be very welcome in the Pacific. /4

Corbyn now responding. The house seems almost festive as he piles on the #BrexitShambles rhetoric. But when he gets to a bit where he refers to the decision to reimpose Collective Responsibility in Cabinet, May smiles and laughs gleefully, Gove smirks. /5

I'd say that the UK PM knows that there is not going to be facing a leadership challenge already, and probably has an assurance on that from the 1922 Committee. And she is happy to be rid of several Turdulent Plonker Brexiteers. /6

Corbyn is clearly itching for another election campaign. But reading the faces, and at the risk of coming to a conclusion based on insufficient evidence, IMO this now seems unlikely. /7

Albeit not on these faces. Who appear Pensive and a bit stressed, unlike their leader. #BrexitShambles /8

In answer to the SNP leader @theresa_may has "absolutely and unequivocally" ruled out working with the opposition on staying in the Single Market and the Customs Union. A money quote which she will be hoping is emphasised in TV coverage. /9

Tory Brexit Skeptic @Anna_Soubry just commended the PM on her leadership, which suggests the Tory Rebellion is now at an end. /10

This rather confirms the thesis that @BorisJohnson was pushed and did not jump.

https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1016334168140255233

/11

And this rather jabs the knife in, it suggests there was never anything that remotely looked like a #Brexiteer plan. Just some @BorisJohnson kite flying, which led to his dismissal. /12

https://twitter.com/tpgcolson/status/1016337275280613376

This is quite right, the UK PM, having vanquished some of her enemies in her previous universse, has now jumped through a worm hole where she will face a new foe, the European Union.

https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1016337613802889217

/13

And she now faces two huge challenges:
1. There are aspects of this deal which will be very hard to get the EU to agree to;
2. Then assuming she returns from Brussels in two months time with a deal, she may not be able to get a Parliamentary mandate to proceed. /14

Either #Brexiteers will have to swallow some rats for the team. Which is something they have proven unable to do thus far. Or the opposition will need to support her, but that remains very unlikely, unless she agrees to a people's referendum. /15

Tactically the opposition to No Deal will need to play their game very well, as the compressed time frames are a double edged sword, and the sort of prevarication and lack of clarity or unity shown thus far will run a risk of crashing out. /16

Ken Clarke wishes his leader good fortune as cameras watch for an appearance by the elusive Boris. After this finishes @theresa_may will need to figure out who to appoint as Foreign Secretary. Amber Rudd? /17

The Boris probably won't emerge until it sees that it will not have to share its TV Screen with its nemesis. The house is thinning out. /18

https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1016345518249795585

UK PM @theresa_may is going to attend the 1922 Back Benchers committee meeting in person and, presumably, seek to shore up her support. Meanwhile Boris is still in his burrow with the BBC at his gate and above him in a helicopter. /19

I really wish the grand fiction of Boris's great disappointment and betrayal following the referendum would be challenged. Just because Gove and Johnson maintain this narrative doesn't make it true. /20

Gove's leadership bid had the credibility of a fish trying to fly. He claims it was a rush of blood to the head, but it was probably Boris's idea, and Gove was, is and ever will be Boris's Worm-Tongue, an ever loyal sidekick to the great wizard. /21

Boris's resignation letter is a scathing attack on May, and rather long. It was finished long after he "resigned", which signals he was actually sacked. /22

https://twitter.com/BethRigby/status/1016370360428703744

Which may have been written in vain, at least so far anyway, as there seems to be little appetite in the Conservative Caucus for a leadership election.

https://twitter.com/MichaelLCrick/status/1016381765148200961

/23

The festive atmosphere, which was possibly occasioned by Boris Johnson's comeuppance, continued into the evening, and was nicely captured in @Channel4News coverage which can be viewed here channel4.com/news/tory-civi… (comprehensive - not geo-blocked) /24

The PM has delayed the release of her white paper till next week (it was to have been released on Friday) but beyond that today was another triumph for @TheresaMay. /25

Ironically whilst pretty much nobody is very happy about the actual Brexit Plan, and for the reasons explained in this moment today is just the beginning of a series of massive challenges for May, everybody except the Brexiteers is happy, most probably because they aren't. /26

@threadreaderapp unroll

P.S. Jeremy Hunt, the long serving Health Secretary, has been appointed as replacement Foreign Secretary. Diplomacy is definitely one of his strong suits, but he is not a Brexiteer. And his promotion suggests @TheresaMay is feeling increasingly confident. /27

Apparently not.

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1016620392042188801

/25a