Might Mrs May deliver Brexit next week?

BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May is making final preparations for a second vote, next Monday or Tuesday, on her Brexit withdrawal deal. While this agreement was defeated in January by a historic margin, she is pulling out the stops now to try to win this time around in what would be a remarkable turnaround.

While the odds are still against her, she is making ground. And a surprise victory cannot be ruled out.

With much political horse trading still to come before the vote, the mathematical pathway for Mrs May to win is relatively clear, albeit tough to realise in practice. She was defeated in January by 432 votes to 202 - which was the largest government defeat in the modern democratic era. Only three previous times had government legislation been defeated in the House of Commons by a margin of more than 100 votes since 1924, and Mrs May's defeat was the biggest.