Why latest Brexit defeat still keeps PM in last chance saloon
Theresa May could have another shot next week of bringing her Brexit deal back to parliament in its full form.
Friday 29 March 2019 17:24, UK
The prime minister said today鈥檚 vote was the last chance to guarantee Brexit - she lost, again.
And speaking after the vote, she gave no clear idea of what happens next.
Some picked out a possible hint at a general election, but her insistence on continuing to press the case for an "orderly Brexit" suggests the prime minister still doesn't believe her deal is totally dead.
Today may have always been meant as something of a staging post. Meaningful vote 2.5, if you like - a chance for Brexiteers and Labour MPs to ease themselves into the cold waters of support for the deal, rather than taking the full plunge that a proper meaningful vote would require.
In reality, the prime minister did not get the number of switchers she needed; Brexiteers and the DUP are still too heavily dug in, Labour MPs are unwilling to enable a Tory Brexit.
But she did narrow the loss and, perhaps crucially, won more votes than the customs union and second referendum options did earlier this week.
If Monday's fresh round of indicative votes fails to come up with an alternative plan that can win the support of a majority of MPs, Mrs May could claim her deal is the most popular.
That could pave the way for another full meaningful vote.
She will need some flexibility from the EU on their deadlines and a way around a stubborn speaker seemingly determined to thwart the government's plans, but it's not unthinkable that by the middle of next week we could be looking at another proper vote on the prime minister's full deal.
The numbers may still not add up for the prime minister and the only options left in seven days' time could be a general election, a long extension or a no deal.
But today's result might have just allowed Mrs May to extend her stay in the last chance saloon.
For now.