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There are moments in history when the improbable becomes the inevitable. This feels like one of those moments. Boris Johnson came back from Brussels last night with half of his Herculean
task still to complete. To say that he is triumphant would be premature. Yet if he can persuade Parliament to ratify the deal he has negotiated, it will constitute the single greatest act of
statesmanship in recent British history. How has he done it? The “clarifying moment” came ten days ago in that fateful telephone call to Berlin. Angela Merkel told him that his proposal to
replace the backstop would never fly. The briefings from Downing Street that day were apocalyptic. A deal, it was suggested, was now impossible without betraying Northern Ireland. Cue much
wailing and gnashing of teeth. But those briefings, it later transpired, did not reflect the Prime Minister’s view. Instead, Boris and his team went back to the drawing board. They came up
with some creative solutions to tempt the EU back to the table. Michel Barnier, to his credit, began to sound less implacable. It became clear that the backstop not only could be replaced
without creating a hard border, but the principle of consent could be worked into the agreement too. The pieces began to fall into place. By the time the mood music sounded more positive,
the DUP began to sound the alarm. They have yet to be reconciled to the idea of overlapping customs unions, with a line in the Irish Sea, however invisible, that they regard as anathema. But
Boris Johnson has not, as the DUP leaders are now suggesting, sold them down the river. He has honoured his pledge to take the UK out of the EU, Northern Ireland included, with
accountability for the new customs arrangement vested in a revived Stormont. It will be up to the DUP and Sinn Fein to make this part of the deal work. If they fail to find enough common
ground to resurrect their Assembly, however, they will merely be rendering themselves irrelevant. The Northern Irish tail won’t be able to wag the British bulldog. The DUP have more to lose
than anyone else. They may vote against the deal, but they will have to live with it. The bigger threat to Boris Johnson comes from the Labour Party and his own rebels. Jeremy Corbyn has
rarely sounded less statesmanlike than he did last night. His vitriolic denunciation of the deal as a “race to the bottom” before he had even read it, then later airing his conspiracy theory
that it was a blueprint for selling off British assets to American corporations, not only sounded mean-spirited. Corbyn’s outburst was also mad — and a revelation of the paranoid view of
the world that really motivates the Labour leadership. There is a good chance, however, that this time a substantial number of Labour MPs will defy the whip and vote for the deal. This
crunch vote on Brexit coincides with new defections over anti-Semitism. There’s nothing like a dame departing to inspire open defiance — and there may yet be two of them. Dame Louise
Ellman’s resignation on Wednesday was explosive. If Dame Margaret Hodge went too, it would be volcanic. Meanwhile, those Tories who are still wandering in the wilderness may have found their
promised land. They have been told that the whip will be restored if they vote for the deal. The ERG “Spartans” have been told that they will lose the whip if they don’t. Diehards of both
stripes are relying on the argument that this deal is no different from Theresa May’s. That claim won’t stand up to legal scrutiny. The Attorney General himself dismissed it in his usual
colourful way. The new deal, Geoffrey Cox insisted, “is fundamentally different to the May deal and one we cannot be legally entombed by”. Compared to the backstop, which would have
condemned the UK to the “seventh circle of Hell”, the Boris deal was “an airy villa with a gentle breeze overlooking the sea”, he said. The omens are good for the Prime Minister. Few of any
Spartans will vote against the deal, while the “rebel alliance” is visibly falling apart. Only those Tories who have defected to the Liberal Democrats, plus possibly Dominic Grieve, are
likely to join Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson and the SNP in the No lobby. Even so, it will be tight. A People’s Vote March is planned for tomorrow, but it is out of step with public opinion
across the country. For Remainers no less than Leavers, this is the time of decision. Though the EU Council of Ministers refused to rule out a further extension, it was clear that their
response to any further delay would be hostile. A tidal wave of exasperation will sweep across Westminster if this deal is rejected there. This is Boris Johnson’s finest hour. He may never
again be as closely in tune with the great British public as he is just now. They said he would never do it, but he has played a blinder. Is Parliament too blinkered to do the right thing?
The nation obviously wants to put Brexit behind it and move on. Politicians are supposed to have a sense of history — an intuition of their duty to the public that often overrides
self-interest. This time, the two coincide. If this House of Commons misses its historic chance to get Brexit done tomorrow, its members will soon be history.