It’s time for common sense on Brexit – a customs union must prevail

The votes should be free and unwhipped. The Speaker should plead for it. The whips should grant it. The chief government whip, Julian Smith, has admitted an “unprecedented” collapse in discipline, but we are where we are. The nation is screaming for unity and resolution – employers, unions, industries big and small, opinion polls, every non-maverick lobby in the land. The Westminster bubble must burst.