The nation needs cool heads and pragmatism

IF MPs wanted to sow the seeds of chaos, they could hardly have done a better job.

In the Commons yesterday, they spurned the only viable Brexit deal on offer, plunging the country into a vortex of uncertainty.

This was a thumping defeat for Mrs May. The majority against her withdrawal agreement was 230 – the biggest rout suffered by any prime minister. But where does Parliament go now? There is no majority for any other solution so the whole Brexit process is in limbo.

If the deadlock is to be broken, we can only hope this vote will provide some degree of catharsis.

MPs have done their worst. They must now climb out of their trenches and work together to achieve the orderly Brexit their exasperated nation demands. Mrs May extended the hand of compromise yesterday. They must take it in good faith.

Purists on all sides are very good at telling us what they don’t want. In a fresh spirit of common sense and pragmatism, they must now decide what they want – or at least what they’re prepared to accept.

This was a day of high drama. In stark contrast to her critics, the Prime Minister conducted herself with the calm dignity we have come to expect.

Others used the debate merely as an opportunity for pontification.

Indeed the sheer volume of hot air discharged was enough to make even the most ardent climate-change sceptic fear for the health of the planet.

But this is not a sixth-form debating society. These machinations affect real people. And those real people want a resolution to this crisis.

The estimable Attorney General Geoffrey Cox perfectly summed up the public mood when he asked his fellow members: ‘What are you playing at? You are not children in the playground. You are playing with lives.’

So what happens next in this seemingly endless saga? Today there will be a vote of no-confidence in the Government – finally called by Jeremy Corbyn yesterday after weeks of dithering.

The DUP has already said it will support Mrs May, so unless there is a genuine death wish within the Tory party (not completely impossible on recent form) she will prevail.

Listening to the hapless Mr Corbyn bumble on yesterday, it’s hard to imagine anyone taking the risk of putting this absurd Marxist into Downing Street. By Monday, Mrs May must come back to the Commons with a revised plan.

In the meantime she will reach out to MPs of all parties in an attempt to find common ground, then possibly travel once more to Brussels in a bid to make further progress.

This may seem a Sisyphean task but she must persevere. Yes, the eU has been less than flexible so far, but it has a strong incentive to make a deal.

The eurozone financial system is creaking at the seams, growth is stalling, unemployment is at dangerous levels across the continent, extremism is on the rise and even Germany – the bloc’s principal paymaster – is teetering on the brink of recession.

The last thing they need is the added shock of a no-deal Brexit.

But for all her disappointment, Mrs May has proved she is still the right woman to lead her party and her country at this perilous time in our history.

The vicar’s daughter has shown truly awe-inspiring strength, dedication and resolve and, as her Cabinet rallied round her yesterday, she expressed her determination to finish the job of delivering Brexit.

For the sake of the Conservative Party and the country, we must find a way through this current impasse. If anyone can achieve that, she can.