There have been smiles, handshakes, kisses and hugs for Theresa May as she has toured European capitals in a desperate bid to save the withdrawal deal.

A certain amount of respect too and no doubt pity. But nothing that is going to help her, not yet.

Not so far as we know. Quite the opposite.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker took the lead early on, ruling out any renegotiation of a deal he said was the best possible; nay, rather the only possible.

As the prime minister sat down for breakfast with her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, France, Germany and Austria were saying the same, others to follow later.


On to Berlin and an awkward moment, the prime minister apparently locked in the back of her limo keeping Angela Merkel waiting, before being sprung free.

Locked in the back(stop): PM's struggle to exit

But, liberation from her Brexit predicament looks far more challenging.

The prime minister needs a substantial shift from Europe to have any chance of getting the withdrawal agreement through parliament. Europeans have ruled that out.

So there is dismay, confusion and bafflement here about what Mrs May is up to. Her ministers have tried to provide an answer.

Brexit minister Lord Callanan said Mrs May "wants additional legal reassurances that the UK cannot be permanently trapped in the Irish backstop".

That's been the issue all along and the issue at the heart of the concerns expressed by many MPs.

It would require legally-binding reassurances and that sounds a lot like renegotiation. Good luck with that, you might say.

But is the prime minister's strategy about something else?

The suspicion forming is the prime minister is playing for time rather than seriously expecting significant concessions from Europe.

Is she letting the clock run out, raising the stakes?

When she finally brings the withdrawal agreement, amended or not, to the House Commons, the choice for MPs will be starker because the risk of a 'no-deal' Brexit all the more real.

It also might concentrate minds in Brussels where no one wants a no-deal outcome.

That might increase the chances of last-minute concessions. Or it might well not. If it does not and if the vote then fails, the UK is facing a no-deal Brexit with little time to avert it.

If that is the prime minister's game, it is a potentially dangerous one for her and the country.