It would make no difference whatsoever. I had you more intelligent than to believe Labour's transparent and substanceless bluster.

Labour are not going to get into No.10. If the Tories get a bigger majority then May's deal is more likely to succeed, not less. The ERG are the ERG, they command less authority than people like to believe - although that's not to say they haven't been a disruptive influence. And don't forget Tory divisions are along Brexit lines only - on most other issues they are united, unlike Labour.

If the Tory majority decreases, we're back to square one and a no deal looks more likely. The only glimmer of hope right now is that the EU - as I predicted - is blinking in the face of a no-deal, and is discussing a small extension.

It’s funny how people can look at the same thing and see it so differently.

This would be in response to the request of the UK prime minister? But offering something shorter than she requested, with conditions as to whether it will be a bit shorter or much shorter. They’re clearly filling their nappies. Rule Britannia!

They’re as sick and tired of this as we are, and they have less to lose.

JesusHChrist...listening to this Labour muppet Thomas-Symonds on QT tells you all you need to know about why we're not making progress.

I'm baffled as to why you're so convinced May's deal is for the ERG? They hate it, she's a Remainer at heart, and the deal is nothing more than 'centre Brexit'. Fact is, we voted to leave, for reasons mainly of sovereignty and immigration, amongst others. May knows it and has been doing her best to honour that. Nothing to do with the ERG.

So - while I do not absolve the ERG of responsibility - you think it's fine for opposition MPs to put their own individual agendas ahead of the common good? For your ERG, I give you the Independent Group. Or other hard Remainers. Or pro-Customs Unionists. Or pro-Freedom of Movementists. Or pro-Single Marketeers. Or the plethora of other agendas. All have done their best to stall proceedings. It's not a party issue. That should be clear.

As for the impact on Ireland/EU vs the impact on the UK - are you seriously suggesting the strategy of 27 European governments is "oh well it might hurt us, but it'll hurt the UK more so that's ok"??? Even if I thought the EU might be thinking that, they are under enormous pressure from EU industry to get this sorted in a productive manner. If you don't think that's true you don't understand European markets or the influence the heads of European industry wield.

Anyway, today May told the EU in no uncertain terms that we are prepared to leave with no deal. They blinked. That says everything. It's very simple.

And yes, if we reach a deal I'll give the EU credit. Why wouldn't I? They want a good deal, as do we. A good deal for the EU is a good deal for us.

The ERG hate anything that further confirms the end of our glorious imperial past and fundamentally don’t understand things like reality.

May’s isn’t remotely a centrist compromise deal. The only option on the far side of what she is offering is no deal, while there are 2 or 3 options on its softer side. Basically there are red lines that she could soften or drop, but not many more that she could add.

It is inevitable that MPs will push their own priorities. What’s the point of going into politics if you’re just going to do what you’re told? To their minds pursuing their agenda is for the common good - that’s why it is there preference. We do need to compromise, but everybody seems to think that it is somebody else who should give way, and May has been extremely inflexible - although I accept she is something of a hostage to her party. As I said previously, this isn’t primarily about personalities.

The corollary to your suggestion that the EU isn’t stupid enough to allow a no deal, which you think the UK is willing to countenance, is that the UK is stupid. Winning by application of stubborn stupidity would be one up for bulldog spirit I suppose.

If you think that our PM having to ask for extension, having to leave the room while the EU27 wearily decide our immediate fate and dictate the next steps is anything other than a humiliation, well... then i’m happy for you. There’s not much cause for positivity, so well done on salvaging some.

Any long extension would be to negotiate a softer brexit, because the only harder option available is no deal and that doesn’t need negotiation.

Cheers pal.

You may have to remind me where I've said that Labour would win a GE (be sure to have a really good look)
As for the Tories increased majority, maybe and maybe not. If you had a better memory, you would remember the last election where the Tories expected to increase their majority and spectacularly dropped the ball, which left them cuddling up to the DUP, which is the main cause of the current debacle.

As for the Tories being united, I'm not so sure.
The divisions caused over Brexit wont suddenly disappear and they have to decide on a new leader soon which could be mighty interesting.
The Tories very quickly revert to type, still promising tax cuts, whilst at the same time watching suicide rates climb ever higher through their failed Universal Credit roll out. Squeezing the poor s at the bottom of the pile so hard that they have to take a different option but, for some people this seems like a price worth paying

There are some delusional Labour followers on these threads, but that is to be expected from The Socialist Worker website.

Eeee this retirement lark is not turning out how you imagined is it old timer? Sat in front of your ageing PC 12 hours a day in pee stained undies raging at the world, while your already poor diction & ability to string together a coherent sentence evaporates completely in front of your failing eyes. You imagined you would retire to the Med, but Brexit & your friends at the HMRC put paid to that. Your only instant gratification is throwing out attempts at cheap insults to people far brighter than yourself. No wonder you aren’t happy.

And here we have the perfect example of why Brexit is such a dog to get through.

You are utterly convinced in your views of May's deal. You think it's a 'hard' Brexit. You think the 'red lines' are a problem. That's your view. It's not necessarily wrong, however stating it as fact is erroneous.

I don't agree. I think the deal is a 'reasonable' Brexit and will do a job. I think the red lines are exactly what we voted for: to leave. I don't want a 'hard' Brexit but I believe that if Brexit is too soft there's no point in leaving. Remove the red lines and we might as well stay. That's my view.

Between you and me and everywhere else to our left and right are millions of other views, from the ERG to die-hard Remainers. As well as those using the issue to do nothing more than attack the government and in particular Theresa May. Unfortunately for us all, in Parliament there are more MPs to the hard and soft extremes than there are willing to take a reasonable line and vote for the deal on the table.

As for no deal, you're taking a simplistic and with respect, blinkered view. We need no-deal on the table to force the EU to blink, which is proven by the fact they have (driven by the clock ticking and oddly, Bercow's stunt). Of course we don't want to leave without a deal (and the vast majority would agree), but it needs to be there as a negotiating tool. The threat of no-deal and damage to Ireland and the EU economy is the only reason the EU have agreed an extension. Will they blink again? Well, what are Ireland saying behind closed doors? I can't imagine Varadkar is anything but terrified of a no-deal. What levels of lobbying are they getting from heads of EU industry and nations who trade heavily with us?

A no-deal would be as much a failure of the EU as it would Parliament.

But yes ultimately if nothing can be agreed, we go. Legally we have no choice right now, unless you want to see A50 revoked, the destruction of faith in our democratic system and a huge upsurge in the hard right?

Yep, because they are doing a fantastic job aren't they ??
At least Brexit has taken all the heat for their appalling record on Crime and their swingeing cuts to a whole host of public services, not least mental health, which is a huge problem among millennials.