THERESA MAY’S announcement that she will resign as Prime Minister should she get her Brexit deal through is welcome.

We have argued before that, given the chaotic mess she has made of handling the withdrawal agreement, she cannot be allowed to negotiate the second, and most important, stage of Brexit.

However, if Mrs May gets her deal through, she will be able to leave with some dignity. The history books will record that she was the Prime Minister who took us out, and much of the coughing and spluttering will be forgotten.

But it is a big if. If the mathematics really are changing because the Prime Minister is standing aside, it suggests Brexit is not really about Brexit, about leaving the EU: it is really about the manoeuvring within the Tory party, and that is a poor basis on which to pass a flawed deal and make such a profound decision.

If Mrs May does fluke the numbers for her deal, will there be any change to its terms to allow her to bring it back for a third time?

Understandably, Speaker John Bercow has said the rules are that it can only be re-presented if it has changed substantially, and it hasn’t.

Mr Bercow loves the spotlight, and might relish the attention that blocking a third meaningful vote would bring.

But the country is fed up. It is crying out for the logjam to be broken so we can move on. If Mr Bercow were to hold the vote up on a point of principal, he would become hugely unpopular - especially as so many others in the House have given up on principal as they jostle for the Tory leadership.