Wednesday night's votes in Parliament suggest that Prime Minister Theresa May is closer to leading Britain out of the European Union with a Brexit deal than at any other point since her negotiations with Brussels began. Instead of another humiliating defeat, Parliament told her to stay the course. Crucially, the group of hard-line Brexiteers who have stood in her way before look split.
Several things have changed to make a deal look a lot more likely.
Faced with the threat of Cabinet and ministerial resignations, the prime minister conceded Tuesday that she will seek a short delay to Britain's March 29 exit date — if her deal cannot be passed by March 12, and if Parliament rejects the option of leaving without a deal (which it certainly would) and then votes for a delay. May's promises were embedded in a parliamentary amendment that was submitted by Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper on Wednesday and which passed by a wide margin, with just 20 Brexiteers voting against it.