It could be said that Tuesday was the day the government lost control over Brexit and parliament claimed it. In one of the most dramatic days in the House of Commons since before the Iraq war, British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a series of defeats before the debate over her Brexit deal even got started.

There's some justice in the shift of power from executive to legislature. May had tried her best to squash parliament's role throughout the Brexit process. It took a Supreme Court case to get a parliamentary vote on triggering Article 50 — the starting gun on its EU departure. It took a crusading Conservative lawmaker to give parliament a "meaningful vote" on the Brexit deal.

The government tried to prevent amendments once a Brexit deal came to a vote (they're now allowed). It refused a parliamentary demand to turn over the legal advice it received on the agreement with Brussels. It even refused to tell MPs whether Article 50 could be unilaterally revoked and sought to prevent Europe's highest court from hearing a case to decide that.