Both Theresa May and Brexit are on the brink after a thumping 149-vote defeat that is a personal and political humiliation for a Prime Minister on borrowed time.
Her incompetence will go down in history, a feeble PM unable to lead her own party and allies when so many Tories and Northern Ireland’s DUP inflicted another bloody blow.
With Parliament expected today to rule out quitting the EU without a deal and to then request extra time tomorrow, Brexit will not happen on March 29.
That is the fault of the PM and warring Brexit MPs, so they must take responsibility instead of blaming others, facing the wrath of those who’ll feel badly let down.
Jeremy Corbyn’s pronouncement that May’s deal is dead appears, alas, not to be shared by a mulish Premier who may find time’s running out for her.
A delay and MPs, parties and people uniting to find common ground is a good way forward. Twice-rejected May has no role in it.
Protect peace
How precarious peace is in Northern Ireland is underlined by a group calling itself the IRA claiming responsibility for sending parcel bombs to London.
Taking for granted the end of The Troubles before the 1998 Good Friday agreement is irresponsible when extremists require little provocation before they resume campaigns.
Security services hunting and arresting dangerous groups is part of the answer but we must never forget it was a political solution which ended the regular killings.
And that’s why we must never stop building a prosperous, secure Northern Ireland with sectarian rivalries broken down and hope isolating the hatred of cold-blooded terrorists.
Grounded call
Grounding Boeing 737 Max jets and banning them from our airspace is a sensible, if inconvenient, precaution.
Safety first is the key rule of flying, so after two disasters in five months let’s hope whatever’s going wrong is fixed swiftly.