Good morning, Prime Minister – except it’s not, is it?
I suspect a bleary-eyed Boris Johnson – fresh off an emergency flight from New York – will not rest easy for many nights to come.
He will be rushed from Heathrow’s VIP lounge under police escort to Downing Street, with the latest overnight polling on the mess he has created clutched in his hands.
What the mood of the country is, we do not know. Events are snowballing so fast the PM cannot pin this on a single enemy and he cannot fight everyone.
Hence his weak challenge to the devastating yesterday.
But his advisers and his bullish instinct will be telling him to lean into what they will call a “difficult few days”, to welcome the clarity of the court, to emphasise that what is important is to get a Brexit deal done and unite the country.
A broadcast to the nation will be suggested to wrestle back the media story after a day of drowning in the derision of Parliament.
But what happens next? The opposition can only unite around one thing – that they don’t want a no-deal Brexit. Apart from that, they offer little in the way of a united front.
Corbyn, who was able to pivot a disaster of a party conference into the semblance of statesmanship, could call a vote of no confidence.
Except, voters have less confidence in him than any other Labour leader in history and the Lib Dems will not back him in power.
The court ruling was a colossal hit against Johnson. He will want to turn over and go back to sleep, wishing his premiership was just a bad dream.
But are the opposition awake enough to strike home their advantage?
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