Sir Graham Brady’s announcement of the voting figures came as an icy shock to the Prime Minister’s supporters.
Rumour and counter-rumour fly round the Palace, and those with walk-on parts have a wonderful time.
He defended the absent Prime Minister with decency and moderation, but neither Labour nor Conservative MPs were persuaded.
The Prime Minister looked like a straight actor who is appearing in a Christmas pantomime, in order to become the butt of everyone else’s jokes.
Instead of pressing home the attack on the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition helped her regain her composure.
Power seems to be seeping away from the ancien regime.
The Attorney General’s claim that it would not be in the national interest to reveal his legal advice was defeated in the Commons.
The Attorney-General gave an electrifying performance as he refused to publish the advice he has given to ministers.
It is hard to see how the different Brexit alternatives can be presented anything like as well on TV as they will be in Parliament.
Robin Aitken, who worked for the Corporation for 25 years, accuses it of propagating liberalism and suppressing conservatism behind a pretend impartiality.
And her enemies are divided: can the No Dealers and the People’s Voters combine to defeat her?