42 days is, an understandably, emotive issue. People who are normally ideological comrades found themselves disagreeing over this issue. It scrambled divides of left and right and even dove and hawk.
The vote looks like it split down party lines, but in reality there were many MPs who voted against their better judgement tonight out of loyalty to their party. The result and the voting patterns would have been very different if this had been a free vote.
Regardless of where one stands on 42 days one has to salute Tim Montgomerie and Sam Coates for their editorial this morning, They said what they believed in the full knowledge that it would not endear them to many of their readers. They are two people who can not be accused of playing politics with national security, something that some of their more shrill commenters should bear in mind.
Politically, I think tonight was a wash.
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