Again, she has demonstrated a failure to listen

Another week has passed of our Government fiddling while Rome burns, as our Party's little Neros play their harps in the hope of reviving the long-lost support of MPs and activists. On Wednesday evening, journalists lined up outside Number 10 and swamped the Twittosphere with their predictions of what the Prime Minister would say in her statement.

A new deal? A referendum? A general election? The brave acknowledgement that a no-deal could be the last resort? None of the above, of course - just the good old “back-my-deal” refrain that we have heard for the past nine months.

The Prime Minister then had the nerve to blame the Brexit crisis on Parliament. As if MPs had travelled to Brussels to negotiate her lousy deal. As if Parliament had not given a clear indication of the need for legal guarantees that would allow UK to exit the Irish backstop unilaterally when they backed the Brady Amendment and supported the Malthouse Compromise.