One of my friends has a song in which he says of his life "he played a poor hand well" and I have to say the I think May did that really well on the last day of Parliament.

1. She has made Raab responsible for producing some 70 or so essays on "Why a no deal could be bad for you", many to be issued before Parliament returns.


2. She has taken control of the EU negotiations with a government approved proposal as a starting point, but not and end point (see Hunt's comments)

3. Even if the fabled 48 letters arrive, there can be no vote in Parliament until the next sitting.

4. She has said we will be under all EU rules until the end of transition and, as with the vote, there can be no effective protest until Parliament bext sits.