Any theories as to how long May can delay a new election?

[Ken Burch]

23. OK, somehow I hadn't see this earlier. I'll respond now.

From what I've read, Labour has the dilemma, in a way neither the Tories nor the LibDems do, of a deep split among its supporters on Brexit). Corbyn was a Remainer, and campaigned for Remain extensively in the referendum-it wasn't his fault that Leave won, it was simply a horrible campaign by the national Remain campaign)

Most of Labour is Remain, but a large chunk of working-class Labour supporters in the North and Northeast-not everyone in those regions, but a large enough chunk to matter-are solidly Leave, largely because they see the EU as the cause of the unemployment and poverty there.

Corbyn and his advisors probably fear that, were they to go all out "stop Brexit", they would lose all of those Northern and Northeastern votes-as Ed Miliband lost them in 2015-and not gain any significant number of votes anywhere else-a result that can only benefit the Tories.

If there were some way for him to fight on a position of "Remain and Reform", or "Remain and Remake", that would be the best choice. At this stage, fighting to stay in essentially seems to require agreeing to accept the EU staying exactly as it is, exactly as hopelessly Thatcherite and austerian as it currently is, for the forseeable future.

I think it's possible that, with the way the process is playing out, Brexit might simply collapse under its own dead weight. I think that, at that point, Corbyn, if Labour has made it into power, could then be in a position to propose a Remain and Remake position.

But for that to happen, the Tories must be defeated. If they win a majority the next election, even if Brexit is prevented, the NHS will be abolished. Once that happens, everything is over. There won't be at reason to even try electing a non-Tory government if the NHS is gone-what could even be possible once that has happened?