Slowly but surely Brexit is beginning to take shape

AND SO the die is cast. After a Cabinet meeting that overran for hours, the Prime Minister was able to announce “with my head and heart” that the Cabinet has backed the draft Brexit plan and surely that was the best outcome we could expect. Any failure to do so would have plunged the country into further chaos and created yet more uncertainty at a time when all of us, from the business community to the man and woman on the street are desperate to move ahead.

Mrs May was completely honest with us. She has said that the decision will come under intense scrutiny and she is surely right here. There are still problems ahead. The DUP is already threatening to make trouble and there is still the prospect of further resignations. But given the immensely difficult circumstances under which she has been coping, it is a small miracle that a deal has been reached with full Cabinet backing at all.

And we must remember that there is still scope for future manoeuvre: nothing has to be set in stone. A few years ago most people believed we would never really leave the European Union and that has been proven wrong. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the deal that has been reached, there can still be future negotiation, not least as the EU needs us more than we need them. And yet again, our remarkable Prime Minister has defied all dire predictions and pulled off quite a coup.