The only way of ruling it out is to change the table itself: in other words, to abandon Brexit, or prepare to – as Remainers should admit.
Not only would he hand control to a minority of MPs, but the supposed cross-party requirement would count defectors as endorsement from the Government benches.
Today, May is swinging towards her Party’s leavers. The logic of the Chancellor’s position, and that of his allies, is to block her – or try to.
The biggest defeat in modern times and the largest Tory rebellion won’t stop her trying to resurrect her deal.
Strangely but truly, the best way of helping the Prime Minister is to send her back to Brussels to win concessions on the backstop.
Opposing it in the hope of something better risks ending up with the worst possible outcome: no Brexit at all.
We count four so far from our list of 109 who have changed their minds – and all of them were only “probables”.
The conventional wisdom is: weak Prime Minister, strong Cabinet. But what we see is: weak Prime Minister, weak Cabinet.
The anger expressed on the Conservative benches reflected the anger felt in many a humble home.
The Speaker defied all precedent to allow an amendment which forces the Prime Minister to present the Commons with a ‘Plan B’ much sooner than planned.
We also reproduce the full text of the letter itself.
His campaigning on behalf of ex-servicemen helped him see off Graham Brady, Tracey Crouch and Dominic Grieve.
Keir Starmer takes a distant second, with Anna Soubry and Tony Blair failing to make much of an impact.
Breaking her promise in such a way would enrage many voters, divide her Party, and cost the nation dearly in lost Brexit opportunities.