The government ought now to have some confidence

First, the Withdrawal Agreement is almost certainly dead. It was defeated by such a spectacular margin that tinkering around its margins would be unlikely to secure the support of enough MPs to ensure its passage through the House of Commons.

Second, Theresa May’s leadership of the Conservative Party seems to be surprisingly safe for the foreseeable future, or at least for the next year, given that she survived the Tory party leadership contest last month and cannot be challenged for another 12 months.

Third, her leadership and indeed her government was given fairly emphatic vote of confidence yesterday, of 325 to 306 votes. That demonstrated that the Tory party splits, while fierce, are not yet at the point where backbenchers are prepared to bring down their own government.

This ought to be a moment when the government had some confidence. It is not, it seems, about to collapse.

Mrs May, however, is determined to make common cause with MPs across the political spectrum. The prime minister, like much of the Westminster establishment, is determined to avoid a ‘no deal’ exit from the EU.

While that is a very understandable instinct, the culpability for the present situation lies primarily with the architects of Article 50. If anyone knew how complicated it would be for an EU member state to quit the union it ought to have been the legal and political figures who drew up that clause.

Two years, it is now obvious, is far too short a time to organise an undertaking as huge as Brexit.

Yet there is no confidence in Downing Street. The determination to avoid no deal is all consuming. The dealings with other parties are troubling for unionists because all those parties seem to accept the Irish border backstop fully.

Scrapping the backstop, as Sammy Wilson and Lord Empey say opposite, is a disaster, and its removal is essential.