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Seventy days into Boris Johnson's time in office we now know how he wants to change Theresa May's deal with the European Union.

What we don't know, and he doesn't know, is whether his counterparts on the continent have the faintest intention of letting him do so.

At the highest levels of government there is a belief that senior figures in the EU, even in Dublin, were certainly willing to contemplate like this.

But those polite promises to consider became less firm when MPs voted to make it much harder to leave without a deal.

Mr Johnson does now not have the option of forcing the EU and then Parliament to say a simple "yes" or "no" to these proposals.

With the option of a delay, they can say "maybe" instead.

Despite widespread suspicion, Number 10 does genuinely want a deal.

But wanting is not the same as getting - and the next steps in this process will not be decided by them.

Rather than taking back control, Mr Johnson must wait for the judgement of others.

His party gave him a hero's welcome to the platform, but there is tonight huge doubt over whether he can live up to the Tories' hopes.