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Did the prime minister just make it worse? It hardly seems that would have been possible.

Her agreement with the EU had been sharply kicked out several times by MPs. She'd promised that she would quit and get out of the way if that bought more support. Then she took the risk of talking to the political enemy to try to get a different deal.

But those measures failed - leaving her hope this time to dangle a bauble to each of Parliament's different Brexit tribes in the much more extensive plan of how she'd actually put our departure into law.

But even before she started talking, many MPs simply weren't listening.

After she finished, public rejections from almost all quarters started to pour in.

Of course, the vote itself on this bundle of measures won't be for at least a week - a lifetime in this hyper-speed world. A lot could change.

But the diplomatic way of describing the situation tonight? Compromising when no one else is interested in consensus is impossible.

The more brutal political interpretation - Theresa May's mishandling of this whole situation has, over many, many months, pulled her deeper and deeper down into a quagmire of her own creation.

An attempt at this stage to ask others for understanding to help her escape is just too late - far, far too late. Now some Conservative minds are turning to whether she can stay on to have this vote at all.