Thread by @Usherwood

So, WTF?

1/

Even by the extracting standards of recent weeks, tonight has been a complete mess

2/

Recall that this was supposed to be the least problematic of this week's three votes: confirm that no-deal isn't liked, move on to extension and whatever else - simple

3/

And yet, somehow the gvt contrived to make it a shambles of their position, reversing mid-flow to oppose a revised motion that meant no than the original and which practically changed nothing.

4/

Once more, for effect, there was never anything the Commons could do (bar revocation) that would actually take no-deal off the table, so losing a reminder of that was neither here nor there

5/

To imagine that yer average common-or-garden MP would be confused by the absence of words to that effect reflects badly on all sides and says much about where we are right now

6/

The effect has simply been to underline the extent to what things are being made up as we go along.

That's going to be a real problem tomorrow when Commons talks extension requests, because EU will want some semblance of a plan

7/

If there is anything substantive to come out of this, then it's that we seem to have an emergent plan for a long (into 2020?) extension:
- May talking about need for a big bunch of time to sort out this
- civil service plans for crash #EP19 elections

8/

However, that's a No.10 plan, not one agreed with anyone else, so tomorrow is going to be important in discovering if it has wings with EU27, or if it falls at 1st hurdle in Commons. Right now, I hesitate to guess that outcome

9/

Overriding impression is that May still wants to get back to "my deal or no-deal"

Tonight's hi-jinks might help convince some that the WA might just be the more secure path to getting out of this

/end