Language and politics: May in the abstract

Amid the torrent of news gushing out from Britain’s barely functioning government, the worldwide community of prime ministers and presidents, and students of political linguistics, might not have had their attention drawn to an exchange between Ms May and the chairman of a House of Commons select committee.

The prime minister, reminded of her Lancaster House Brexit speech in 2017, was asked last week if she would contemplate Britain leaving the European Union without a divorce agreement.