The EU sees the sense of 'no deal'

Considerable quiet depression among the Remainerati today as all the options proposed by 'Parliament' went down last night amid lots of tactical abstentions. To be fair, 'The customs union motion tabled by the Conservative former chancellor Ken Clarke was rejected by a margin of only three votes, 273 to 276, while a second Brexit referendum fell short of a majority by 12 votes.' says el Guradnion. In both cases, less than half the MPs supported the proposals. Such high hopes had been placed on 'Parliament talking control'! They might come back for another bite of the cherry on Wednesday when acting self-selected PM O. Letwin has some more time from the Speaker to do something: 'all four options put to the Commons to break the Brexit impasse were rejected by MPs, although by small margins, raising some hope that a solution might be found later in the week.'. The Speaker has, of course, already ruled that the same motion may not be put twice so we shall see.

Meanwhile, at last the EC seems to be talking sense, although it is in the same article as the faint hope of 'soft' Brexit above,which makes you wonder if more games are not being played: 

No-deal Brexit more likely by the day, says Michel Barnier

EU negotiator says strong justification needed to extend article 50 beyond 22 May

By 'strong justification' it seems Barnier means proposals for  'a general election or a second referendum.' However, he also says that:

an extension beyond the end of May, requiring the UK to take part in European parliamentary elections, “would carry significant risks for the EU...businesses in the EU had warned Brussels “against the cost of extending uncertainty”. The UK prolonging its status as a member state while still seeking to leave with a negotiated deal “could pose a risk on our decision-making autonomy”...the EU’s patience had reached its limit. 

Interesting, that remark about a prolonged status for the UK.