We have got used to a lot of odd things in British politics recently. Many of the usual rules have been suspended: Theresa May has survived losing her majority in an election she called and we’ve seen the departure of not one, but two Brexit Secretaries.
But tonight she will defeated by a massive margin on the central plank of her governing programme. The consequences of this will be unpredictable—which is precisely why the government pulled the vote in December. Things could spiral out of Theresa May’s control very quickly.
So far, the government looks out of luck in its attempt to limit the damage. There hasn’t been anything like the change of mood needed among Tory MPs to keep this defeat respectable and it doesn’t look like an amendment is going to come to their rescue.
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