May delays: Brexit vote deferred

A 19th-century British grandee, Lord Salisbury, once said “delay is life” while defending the conservatism that tries to defer change. At the same time, Salisbury underlined a permanent truth about political practice: For a besieged politician, delay can be a reliable shield.

Another version of that philosophy, a more homespun one maybe, might be that “no news is good news”.

Each of those pearls applies to the decision announced by British prime minister Theresa May yesterday afternoon, to defer a vote on the deal she has proposed on Brexit. It was expected her proposal would have been roundly rejected, the only issue in question was the scale of that defeat — and if she might survive that humiliation.

There was a disconcerting note in the Commons responses to the announcement. The backstop so central to Irish interests seemed peripheral to the concerns of many MPs. Should she be replaced before these issues are advanced it seems fair to ask if any successor might regard the backstop as lightly as many of those who challenged their prime minister.