Why has Theresa May set a deadline for a Brexit compromise with Labour and what will happen next?

Politics Explained: The time limit for an agreement has been set for the middle of next week, says government source

Week after week, No 10 has refused to answer a very simple question: “What is the deadline for striking a Brexit deal with Jeremy Corbyn?”

Even as the talks teetered on the brink of collapse – with sniping from both sides – Downing Street set no time limit on pursuing what most have always seen as a pie-in-the-sky compromise.

From the off, Theresa May had to run the gauntlet of Tory MPs condemning her for breaking bread with a “Marxist antisemite” and a man they considered simply not fit to govern.

She had to abandon any hope of avoiding the European elections on 23 May – and a near-certain thumping by Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party – as the days have ticked down. Yet the talks staggered on.

Now a well-placed government source has finally set a deadline for pulling stumps if, as seems certain, the Tories and Labour cannot agree a deal – and it is the middle of next week.

In some ways it is surprising that Ms May has inked in a cut-off date, given that the talks at least filled a gap in the Brexit horror story and, to some extent, allowed the Conservatives to change the subject before Thursday’s local elections.

But, in the end, reality had to intrude, particularly with those European elections looming – when a clearer message on Brexit is desperately needed on the doorstep.

Asked why the deadline was now being set, the source told The Independent: “The European elections are on 23 May, we need a future direction” – before adding, despairingly, “whatever it might be”.

Make no mistake, there is no breakthrough in sight, as Downing Street remains gloomy that Mr Corbyn will ever agree to dip his hands in the Brexit blood.

The two sides remain far apart on Labour’s demand for a customs union and on how to ensure any deal is “Boris-proof” – that it will not be ripped up by Mr Johnson or another Brexiteer who may move into No 10 in the months ahead.

So what will the prime minister try next? The source spoke of “a move in another direction”, probably trying to re-woo the DUP, however unlikely that seems.

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer leaves the Cabinet Office following cross-party talks earlier this month (EPA)

But there is no obvious change of tack.

As one aide put it, explaining why Mr Corbyn was begged to help in the first place: “We had tried literally everything else!”