It was not about speeches and emotion but cold, hard numbers

It was a day, said Boris Johnson, to “heal this country”. He hoped MPs would “come together and bring the country together today as I believe people at home are hoping and expecting.”

That prospect lasted precisely until the Prime Minister sat down. Next up in the House of Commons, meeting on a Saturday for the first time since the Falklands War, was Jeremy Corbyn, who made it clear Labour had no intention of backing the new Brexit deal Mr Johnson brought back from Brussels last week.

Then came the rest. A sense of outraged betrayal drifted across the chamber from the Northern Irish benches like a toxic fog. The nation’s unionist MPs believe the PM has sold them out, creating a border in the Irish Sea. “It was once said that no British prime minister could ever agree to such terms – and indeed those who sought the leadership of the Tory party said so at our conference,” said Nigel Dodds, deputy leader of the DUP, referring to a speech Mr Johnson had given before becoming PM.

Lady Hermon, an Independent unionist, was spittingly contemptuous. The SNP’s Ian Blackford could only say, pungently, that Scotland had been “shafted”. The Lib Dems demanded a second referendum. Labour claimed workers’ rights and environmental standards had been downgraded in the new agreement and said they believed Johnson was still playing for no deal.

Outside Westminster, thousands of protesters gathered to say: not in our name.

The potential for unity was further hampered by the fact that the most ardent support for the deal came from those who had previously proved the most truculent: the hard-nut Leavers of the Tory European Reform Group queued up to announce they would be backing it. This rang alarm bells among Brexit-sceptics. If Steve Baker and Mark Francois were suddenly onside, a long spoon was required.

In the end, of course, it didn’t come down to speeches or marches or calls for unity, but to cold, hard numbers. The Prime Minister simply didn’t have them. An amendment by Sir Oliver Letwin was passed by 322 votes to 306, ensuring parliament withholds approval of the deal until the legislation to enact it – the EU withdrawal bill – is passed. This also compels Johnson to request an extension beyond the planned Brexit day of October 31 from Brussels

– the idea being that if something subsequently goes wrong there is no possibility the country might crash out without a deal.

The government will now seek to get its withdrawal bill through the Commons, beginning tomorrow. There may also be another court battle if the Prime Minister refuses to ask for an extension as mandated.

In short, Britain remains in a holy mess. Johnson asked parliament to give him its trust yesterday. Parliament’s robust response was that, given his track record, it had absolutely no intention of doing so. Boris might eventually get his Brexit, but he will have to scrap every inch of the way for it.