IT is 50/50 as to whether Boris Johnson’s deal passes the Commons today, but he is almost 100 per cent the winner whatever happens.

He has succeeded, with the help of the Irish and the EU, in getting a new deal, albeit one that may split the UK. If he loses today’s vote, he will be able to blame Labour for blocking it. He will then be able to say to the country that a vote for the Tories is a vote for an immediate deal and end to the Brexit agony.

And if he wins today’s vote, he will go to the country as a hero – the man who, against the odds, delivered Brexit. He will probably win a landslide.

Labour thought they had boxed Mr Johnson into a corner with the Benn Act, but he has sprung free. Now Labour quickly needs a new plan.

The leadership was offering few suggestions last night as some of its MPs prepared to peel off and support the Prime Minister. Perhaps the only viable way forward was the one proposed by the Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson, which allows Labour to vote for Mr Johnson’s deal as long as there is a “confirmatory” referendum.

It will not be universally popular, but Labour cannot just block the deal, deny an election and offer no alternative. It also has to plot a path out of this mess. At the moment, Mr Johnson is the only one with a route map.