Theresa May Mugged By Speaker Bercow

Having twice failed miserably to persuade MPs to endorse her agreement to withdraw Britain from the European Union, everyone expected Theresa May to bring the motion back at least once more, possibly even twice if need be. She hoped to win over dissenters until, finally, she would succeed.

Now, with the prospect of a "hard Brexit" just 11 days away, the Speaker of the House, John Bercow, has thrown a wrench in the government's gears. There will be no third, much less a fourth vote on May's motion.

Mr Bercow cited a convention dating back to 1604 that a defeated motion could not be brought back in the same form during the course of a parliamentary session. 

He said the second vote on the prime minister's deal last week was "in order" as it was substantially different to the first, but any further votes must pass the "test" he had set out to be allowed.

Bercow's ruling has sent the government scrambling for workarounds.

How can the government get another vote on Theresa May's deal?
Well, first of all, rules are there to be changed. 

If MPs suspend or change the "standing orders" of Parliament, they could get the Brexit deal back on the agenda. 

Secondly, the government could change the proposition on offer. 

The former Attorney General Dominic Grieve has suggested that something "substantially" different would be to ask Parliament to vote for the deal subject to a referendum. 

Or change the Parliament? 

If MPs can't discuss the same thing in the same session of Parliament, why not simply start a new one?

With the clock running down, May could really use an extension of Britain's article 50 deadline - if the membership of the EU agrees.