May secures soft Brexit mandate: Unhinged were outflanked

Even JK Rowling, that master of fantasy, would be reluctant to begin a novel called What Donald Did Next, or What Boris Did Next or, God forbid, a What Jacob Did Next as near rudderless unpredictability — or blind, regressive nativism — characterises their dangerous destabilising of Western democracy. Ms Rowling might, however, begin to consider the possibility of writing What Theresa Did Next.

The British prime minister’s achievement last Friday, when she persuaded her cabinet to support a soft Brexit, seems a victory for sober pragmatism and well-tested moderation.