It almost works

Were it not for the backstop, May’s deal would get over the line – with support from an overwhelming majority of Conservatives, including us.

Get ready to play May’s Chicken Game again before too long

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

WATCH: Lidington fires “home truths” at both Conservative and Labour critics of the Prime Minister’s deal

Theresa May’s deputy dismissed WTO Brexit, Norway, Canada, and a second referendum in short order.

Chicken May

Is she chickening out on Brexit? Or playing chicken with Commons and Party over her deal? Or merely a headless chicken herself – bent on daily survival?

Opining for the fjords

Norway-to-Canada was one thing. Norway-plus-the-backstop is another. It is inferior even to the Prime Minister’s proposed deal.

Why Conservative MPs should prepare to call for a confidence vote in the Prime Minister’s leadership this week

A new leader will be a surer means of delivering Brexit if she can’t extract last-minute backstop concessions.

Interview. As May’s defeat looms, Johnson sketches a manifesto: “People want to see a bit of gumption and a bit of leadership”

He expects her plan to be voted down on Tuesday, calls for a renegotiation which she could not conceivably lead – and rules out Norway Plus.

Nicky Morgan: The only credible alternative plan is Norway Plus. And that may well be what Parliament ends up supporting.

But it could take the ruling out of all other options before we get there. And if MPs ends up reaching a consensus view, then the Government will have to adopt it.

The Commons renders the proposed television debate on Brexit utterly superfluous

It is hard to see how the different Brexit alternatives can be presented anything like as well on TV as they will be in Parliament.

Nick Hargrave: If we join the EEA, others might follow – thus creating a Europe-wide, non-federalist alternative to the EU

As a bloc with heightened economic weight, with the UK as a key influence, it would have greater flexibility to negotiate over issues such as immigration and budgetary contributions.

Keep your eyes fixed on the Withdrawal Agreement, which would be backed by law. Not on this Political Declaration. Which wouldn’t.

A staple of stagecraft magic is misdirection. While his audience is gawping at one thing, the magician is swiftly doing another. So it may be now.

Changing the Prime Minister, in itself, would solve nothing

A new leader would need a new plan to reverse this evident humiliation of May’s leadership and of British statecraft.

May’s Deal 3) Alex Morton – If the Commons rejects it, here are three alternatives

Perhaps the Prime Minister will secure Parliament’s approval. But if she does not, the Conservative Party must choose a direction quickly.

Andrew Green: Norway, for now or forever, isn’t the way to travel. It would mean no real control of migration from Europe.

There are indeed mechanisms for mitigating damaging immigration flows, but these are tightly constrained.

Greg Hands: Remaining in a customs union beyond 2020 would be unacceptable to many Conservative MPs – and here’s why

Some will ask “Trump versus China: where does the UK stand?” The answer will be: “Ask Brussels – as the UK isn’t allowed to have a trade policy of its own”.