The Guardian view on parliament and Brexit: Theresa May’s approach has failed

The latest government defeat on Brexit should be a watershed. Thursday’s 45-vote defeat, in which scores of MPs abstained, says something lethal about the parliamentary Brexit process. Opposition amendments from Labour and the SNP were duly defeated, as expected. An important all-party backbench amendment was withdrawn at the last moment, leaving key issues again unresolved. And the government lost another vote because of Conservative splits, exposing the bankruptcy of Theresa May’s Conservative-facing Brexit strategy and reinforcing the need now for an all-party consensus approach