If you think it's all over, think again.
Today's statements by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown do not reflect a deal between the two men to work together. They reflect, instead, mutual panic.
Tony Blair became convinced that unless he personally promised that he'd be gone in a year, some in his party might conspire to have him out within weeks.
Gordon Brown feared that he was becoming seen in a way he's desperate to avoid: at worst, as Tony Blair's assassin; at best, as someone demanding a private stitch-up to make him prime minister.
Both men also saw the mortal danger facing the political project they've been jointly working on for more than two decades. That's why both men took a step back from the precipice and most MPs will step back with them.
However, the root of the problem remains. Gordon Brown wants Tony Blair to seek his agreement on the policies and the personnel he expects to inherit next year. He wants
Tony Blair's main cheerleaders to stop portraying him as an obstacle to reform. But they believe he personally ordered an attempted coup against the prime minister and are all the more determined to stop him taking over.
It will take an act of extraordinary political will to overcome these. Hunger to hold on to power may make that possible but today - despite the carefully chosen words - that decision has not been taken by the protagonists on either side.
First Tony Blair said there would be no timetable. Uber-Blairites told me they were still urging him to stay on until 2008. Then we were told he'd be gone in a year. Then he'd resign on 31 May (remember that?!).
This morning Jack Straw suggested he'd go earlier still, giving his successor time to fight David Cameron before next summer's break from politics - convincing many of us that Tony Blair might have to go before May's elections. Now Downing Street insists that Tony Blair has no intention of leaving before May.
So, what do we know?
• First, whatever newspaper headlines say - there is no date, there is no deal, there is no certainty. Why? Because Tony Blair is sinking in quicksand while his party looks on. He doesn't know what will be enough to convince them that it's time to offer him a hand and pull him out of immediate danger.
• Second, after yesterday's nightmare of division and acrimony all sides will want to be seen to pull back today. Tony Blair will publicly confirm this afternoon that he'll go in the next year but he will not be more specific. Gordon Brown will publicly call on the party to pull together but say that when Tony Blair goes is a matter for Tony Blair. No deal on timing will be done. Neither will give reporters the chance to question them to find out more.
• Thirdly, many Labour activists want a change of leader before May's elections because they fear electoral anihilation if the voters treat the elections as a referendum on Tony Blair's leadership.
• Fourthly, as a result, the latest thinking emanating from the Blair camp is that the PM will announce early in the New Year (perhaps at Labour's Spring Conference) his intention to resign after those elections. A speedy leadership election would allow the new prime minister time before the summer to make an impact - just as Jack Straw was indicating this morning.
• Fifthly, all this may change since both friends and foes of the prime minister believe that getting from here to May may be incredibly difficult even if there's good will on both sides - something which is far from guaranteed.
• Sixthly, keep reading, listening and watching as what you're witnessing is poltics at its rawest and most significant - the wrestling of power from the leader of our country. That, by the way, is my answer to all those who've complained that I write too much about personalities, squabbles, and timetables.
