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

[Denzil_DC]

38. The problem is this:

While even a lowly poster on DU can try to come up with a constructive (though far from ideal) way out of the urgent conundrum that faces Labour over Brexit, Corbyn was still banging this old discredited Bennite drum a month ago:

Corbyn reignites Labour debate over EU rules on state aid and socialist manifesto

Jeremy Corbyn reignited a decades-old debate inside the Labour party this week when he claimed a socialist manifesto might be blocked by the European Union’s rules on state aid if the UK tried to stay in the single market. ... Corbyn told the Andrew Marr Show the single market “has within it restrictions in state aid and state spending. That has pressures on it through the European Union to privatise rail for example and other services.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/29/corbyn-reignites-labour-debate-over-eu-rules-on-state-aid-and-socialist-manifesto

So rather than paving the way for a "reset" as you seem to imagine, he's bolstering the case against the EU in terms that will come back to bite him in the arse if he tries to backtrack.

From the same article:

Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King’s College London, said the argument that EU state aid rules would constrain Labour’s manifesto pledges on nationalisation is “nonsense”.

Two lawyers expert in EU state aid law, Andy Tarrant and Andrea Biondi, say they have tested 26 economic proposals in the 2017 manifesto to see if they fall foul of any EU law. They conclude most do not even potentially fall within the scope of the state aid rules.

...

Lord John Monks, the veteran trade union leader, said: “There are no strict rules binding Corbyn, but there is a philosophy [in Brussels] that nationalisation is a bad thing. That said, we never noticed anyone being stopped from doing anything.” He pointed to a German scheme to protect jobs during the financial crisis and France, “which has done what it’s always done”.

More detail at the link about this debate. (Also take a look at the Guardian's links to other stories at the bottom of that article for a snapshot of Labour's disarray on all this during the course of this summer.)

I'm left in the same dilemma I am about Corbyn's attitude to Scottish politics: is he just ignorant of the inconvenient nuances of the argument, or does he know the truth and is lying?

We've been through your other suggestion above before as well.

There's more prospect of a squadron of porkers swooping down on No. 10 and crapping in formation on Theresa May's head than Labour making a pre-election deal with the SNP. Add it to the long list of things that just aren't going to happen.

We've also discussed who might fare better than May as Tory leader before, and there just hasn't been much polling about it, certainly among the electorate outside the Tory Party, so all bets are off for me. Though I reckon Ruth Davidson taking over the Tory leadership is another to add to that list of things that aren't going to happen. I only mention it when I do it because it makes me boggle at the desperation and paucity of talent within the Tories! It might be fun to watch her try, though ... Having said that, these are strange times, and weirder things have happened.