Even Chris Grayling couldn't make matters worse. Vote Grayling!

What a shame Theresa May hadn’t scheduled a visit to Paris on her latest whistle stop tour of E.U. capitals. Then she could have been filmed making a statement to the press outside our embassy about how she will battle on despite the announcement that she now faces a no-confidence vote amongst her parliamentary colleagues. Bernard Ingham is still alive I believe (what would count as evidence of that I wonder) so to complete the scene he could have been drafted in to play himself, doing his best to drag the wounded beast back indoors. It’s the same old, same old. Thatcher went, and whatever the outcome of this current internal Tory battle, May’s time is up too. As ever in these situations though, one has to be careful what one wishes for.

If May wins she cannot be challenged internally again for twelve months. But she will look even weaker than she did after the 2017 general election. The Tory European Rejection Group (ERG) will not stop attacking her. She will be more in hock to the DUP who would not want to lose their ‘Ace In The Hole.’ She will not be able to get her deal through Parliament. Her (our) government will be in paralysis (as if it weren’t already). At least lame ducks can hobble. If May loses tonight, then we’re going to be in even deeper poo-poo. The country will be in even worse paralysis. Paralysis-paralysis, or perhaps meta-paralysis. And would we be expected to accept a new Tory leader without a general election, as if this change in PM was a matter of no concern to us? It’s been suggested the Tory victor would have to be a ‘proper’ Brexiteer, like Boris. Yes, a unifying figure. A hard Brexit looms. This is a real-life zombie movie. It's Chris Grayling's moment! He wouldn't even need prosthetics.