Thread by @mrJamesGraham

Couldn't sleep so wrote a list of things that aren't normal, do add.

1/ Last night 118 Conservative MPs voted against the flagship policy of its own government.

It's the largest defeat in history for a Prime Minister but she didn't resign in fact she'll win its confidence today

2/ Because the "gentleman's agreement" of pairing was suspended in acrimony last year a pregnant MP had to cancel a c-section that would've allowed her to give birth to her child. Instead she was wheeled down a corridor in a chair to pass her body through a door in order to vote

3/ The Government is going back to Brussels to renegotiate a withdrawal agreement the EU has said they won't negotiate over anymore but the Government has no choice because the non-negotiable agreement wasn't agreed upon by Parliament because MPs agreed they didn't like it.

4/ The Opposition has called a Vote of No Confidence it can't win to force an election that won't happen to fight for the same Leave position as the Government. Except if they win they'll negotiate a different kind of Brexit with the EU, asking for things that the EU can't give

5/ But it's not a normal Vote of Confidence, is it? Not in the way that they've historically normally been run. Normally if more than half the house votes no confidence it forces an election, obviously, because you can't govern if a majority of the house don't want you to anymore

6/ But we passed the junction for Normal a way back and forgot to turn off, so this time c/o the Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011 No Confidence is followed by a Not Normal phase never before tried. It's a 14 day period where the Government can try to REGAIN confidence of the House

7/ It's of course conceivable in this period that the Opposition parties can also try to form an alternative government, without an election, so long as they can prove to the Queen or someone that they're like, legit.

8/ So the Government can't pass its deal

The Government can't negotiate a new deal

There is no Parliamentary support for No Deal

The Opposition can't force an election

The Tories can't call a Leadership challenge

Immovable object meets brick fucking wall

9/ To sum up, as I humbly see it:

The world's longest unbroken democracy is in freefall.

The only thing we know will stay normal for sure is that the 29th of March will still happen on the 29th of March. That's the one normal thing even the Mother of all Parliaments can't break