The Prime Minister has shown a moderation of which his critics did not believe him capable.
Yesterday’s Downing Street briefing and the plight of the Brexit talks suggest that he will ultimately settle for extension. That could be fatal – not least for him.
If they want a more old-fashioned product, they may go for Lindsay Hoyle. If someone more like the present incumbent, for Harriet Harman.
Their real aim is to overturn the referendum result, wreck Brexit and destroy the Government we actually have.
That’s variously for a customs union; for a custom arrangement plus the Single Market; for a second referendum, and for staying in the EU.
Progressive commentators and saloon-bar orators are wrong to condemn MPs for finding the national issue hard to settle.
Those for included Bebb, Jo Johnson and Merriman. Those against, Collins, Keegan and Prentice.
“Consider the consequences for trust in politics if this House forces an outcome on the people that they no longer desire.”
The proposal was rejected by 314 votes to 311. Boles, Gyimah, Spelman and Vaizey were among those to rebel. Plus Brine and Harrington.
This was the amendment that sought to ensure that No Deal doesn’t happen without the Commons sitting – and having a chance to stop it.
The Chamber was filled for a long time with clouds of canting, self-righteous, ludicrously overblown protest.
His reforms will cripple his MPs and are a posthumous triumph for Tony Benn’s belief in extra-Parliamentary action.
Plus: Trump’s folly, Miliband’s mess, my first West Ham game at the Olympic Stadium – and Margaret Thatcher, Queen of Game Shows.