Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsMay-hem - and the art of the impossible
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2024
Shipman has chronicled the Brexit saga in two brilliant previous accounts, Fall Out and All Out War. No Way Out - as the title suggests - is about Theresa May’s abortive attempts to strike a Brexit deal with the EU, and why they failed. The persuasive thesis is that she didn’t really believe in Brexit in the first place. She didn’t know what she wanted out of the deal, and the Cabinet was bitterly divided. Lacking a clear vision, she and her negotiators allowed the EU to gain the upper hand. Parliamentary stalemate ensued, May was ousted, and Boris - a true Brexiteer - saved the day, although the deal he struck largely built on the foundations May had laid. But the EU believed he was willing to walk away without a deal. They knew May was bluffing. These conclusions are set out at the end of the book. The rest is a forensic and often funny (or tragicomic) account of the tug-of-war with Europe and within the Tories over an issue which had been tearing them apart for decades. It’s The Thick of It - on steroids. Of necessity, it is a more demanding read than the previous titles. We’re deep into the weeds of Brexit process here. Some of it triggers flashbacks to those dark, fractious days when talk of the backstop and custom unions dominated political discourse. So it’s a tougher read. That said, No Way Out has to be judged on whether it succeeds on its own terms. If you’re thinking of reading it, the chances are that fairly granular discussion of the backstop isn’t going to put you off anyway. The next instalment - about Boris at No. 10 - promises to be just as compelling. Perhaps one of the great ironies is that having finally got Brexit over the line, the Tories are staring down the barrel of heavy losses at the forthcoming general election (expected in late 2024), and the party is still divided - despite having exorcised the Brexit bogeyman.