Welcome to In Conversation, the regular podcast of E-Sharp magazine. Go to e-sharp.e.U for free access to all our

podcast to date. This is Paul Adamson and I'm in conversation with Jennifer Rankin. Jennifer Rankin is the

Brussels correspondent of the Guardian newspaper. We're going to talk about Brexit, Jennifer. Don't groan, but we're going

to talk, given your expertise here in Brussels, from the kind of EU 27 side, whether it's the

institutions here in Brussels or certain member states, as opposed to the well-warned track of path

of covering the Westminster bubble side of Brexit.

So it's getting quite close to yet another crunch time.

Mrs May is on account another, yes, another tour of negotiations with Brussels, quote-unquote.

Is this all for show, or is there some kind of real significant substantive purpose behind it?

Well, I think certainly for the Prime Minister there is a purpose behind it,

but for the EU going to use the cliche of the hour and nothing has changed,

the EU is still insistent that they don't want to reopen their withdrawal agreements,

although they are prepared to discuss the political declaration.

And the grey area is whether there can be some further assurances that give confidence to MPs on the Irish backstop,

so the fullback plan to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland that's become this totemic issue.

So Theresa May would certainly like to secure what the government is

calling legally binding changes, but it seems very unlikely she will get what she's after from the EU.

Well, as you know, she's been criticised by many people for running the clock down. In other words,

just paying for time so that when she

comes back to the Hans-O-Com at some point, you'll say it's my deal or no deal at all,

and then the clock is ticking? To what extent, to be very direct, is the E-27 almost complicit

in that? They are being very courteous and going through the motions of talking to Mrs. May and her

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