The deal is not dead. It’s just resting.

The Monty Python reference arose as No 10 gave a post-vote briefing to journalists about a defeat of truly historic proportions. Indeed, it is thought Theresa May suffered the largest parliamentary kicking of any prime minister, ever.

In normal times the Prime Minister would be booted out of Downing St and a snap general election called. But, of course, these are not normal times. The PM made clear her determination to carry on in No 10 to deliver on the people’s verdict in the 2016 referendum.

Read more: Theresa May humiliated after MPs deliver crushing defeat to her Brexit Plan with 230 majority

One of the biggest gasps of disbelief from the Labour and SNP benches during her post-vote statement came when Mrs May declared that she would now reach out to other parties to try to find a consensus.

A disbelieving Jeremy Corbyn rolled his eyes and insisted that at every turn she had “closed the door on dialogue” and that over the last two years she had only one priority: the Conservative Party.

The Herald:

Indeed, the sorry pass the country is now at is because the Tories have been wracked by their psychodrama on Brexit.

Given the deep fissure that has existed on Europe within Conservative ranks for generations, it did not take a political Einstein to work out that, particularly with a minority government, it would be impossible for Mrs May to rely solely on her loyal band of Tory MPs to get her Brexit Plan through the Commons. The numbers simply did not stack up.

It seemed clear alliances would have to be nurtured, bringing into the circle Labour moderates, particularly as Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists, the Tories’ supposed allies, would always need to be handled with extreme care given the delicate constitutional aspects of Brexit.

Yet within minutes of such a crushing defeat, No 10 appeared to be in complete denial.

Read more: Brexit crisis just got much deeper – who, if anyone, will take control?

It explained that while “disappointed” by the 230-majority defeat, it believed the May Plan was still twitching and could form the basis of a new deal.

“Yes,” declared the PM’s spokesman. “We want to move forward with the agreement that we have struck.”

He said the talks with other parties, would begin this week – assuming Mrs May wins today’s confidence vote – and be based on “practicality” and “negotiability”.

“Maybe we will have to test some of those ideas with the EU and we are prepared to do that,” he explained coolly.

Yet the spokesman also made clear that the PM’s red lines on not backing an extension of Article 50 or a People’s Vote remained. “Those views have not changed,” he declared.

The spokesman also said Mrs May would be willing to talk to open-minded parliamentarians; presumably who agreed with her. Neither the names of Mr Corbyn nor Nicola Sturgeon were mentioned.

Last week, The Herald was confidently told by a Whitehall insider that if the deal were voted down, it would not be dead. The suggestion seemed to be that it would be shoved into the parliamentary microwave and reheated so MPs could have another bash at it.

The PM’s spokesman was asked openly if the PM’s deal was dead. He replied: “It remains the only deal on the table.”

Needless to say, a second question was quickly asked: was it resting? “The old ones really are the best ones,” replied the spokesman to laughter.

However, the country’s future is now seriously at stake. True leadership and compromise must be the order of the day.