Turning The Thames Yellow

The SNP lost the Scottish independence referendum.

But its ability to mobilise the aggrieved Yes vote has made it so dominant under First Past the Post that, unless David Mundell, late of the SDP and possessed of a small majority in a Remain-voting area, can find nowhere else to be that night, then it is perfectly possible that no MP from Scotland is going to vote in favour of Article 50.

Similarly, Remain lost the EU referendum.

But the Lib Dems' increasingly apparent ability to mobilise the aggrieved Remain vote ought to make them the First Past the Post in scores of seats that are currently held by the Conservatives in the Remain heartlands of the South of England.

Enough, in fact, for a hung Parliament in 2020.

If the Lib Dems in both Houses have any sense, then they will table an amendment to the Article 50 Bill, requiring a second referendum before the Prime Minister was authorised to invoke Article 50, but with the provision that she would only be so authorised if that had been approved of 50 per cent plus one of eligible voters.

The House of Lords might even pass that.

And while it would not make it into the final Act, it would do the Lib Dems no end of good in the pursuit of their and the SNP's proper, if unwitting, mission of ensuring that Jeremy Corbyn's Labour was the single largest party in the House of Commons after the next General Election.