The behaviour of all the above is entirely understandable from their point of view, but in no sense whatever is it intended to strengthen David Davis’s right arm as he enters the Brussels negotiating chamber on Monday.

The political reasoning behind finding that consensus is supposed to be that the Government will otherwise collapse and deliver us up to Marxists. But why should Mr Corbyn stay his hand against a Tory Government which compromises on Brexit? He will quite rightly continue the job of opposition, which is to oppose; and anyway he is the longest-serving Brexiteer in the House of Commons.

Even more to the point, what’s in it for Mrs May? Just now, her most tenacious supporters in her party are the Brexiteers. Getting Brexit done is, as she has said all along, her job. If they decide she is not doing it, that is the end of her.

Most to the point, the only certainty in all this is that no sane Conservative MP wants another premature general election (though yes, I admit, the traditional link between the word “sane” and the word “Conservative” is coming under strain).

The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act makes it harder than in the past for a hung Parliament to provoke one. If the Tories play their cards right, they could be in government for the next five years. If they play them wrong, they could be out for the next 15.

Rarely has there been a stronger incentive for them to be good boys and girls. If they face no zugzwang, they need make no move. Better to struggle loyally on until the House rises in late July and then go away and lie down.

Obviously, Britain is weaker than before we voted. Obviously, some concessions will be made. One, already flagged, is to guarantee the rights of EU citizens already here (and hence of ours there). Another might be to pay a higher financial price. Once a deal is made – and not before – transitional arrangements may need to be secured.

There should also be a change of tone here and abroad. The Government should involve British business instead of insulting it.

Towards the Continent, it should be friendlier and simpler. The point about no deal being better than a bad deal is not to seek no deal, but to show a bottom line. What we want is a free trade deal with the EU, and for that we should ask politely, since it is up to them. If they don’t want it, we have the WTO fall-back.

The alternative the Remainers are pushing is not an agreeable consensus, but a betrayal of the biggest vote for anything in our history. How could any Conservative government survive the consequences of that?