Since Brexit is possibly the most important political event in our lifetime, it is hardly a surprise that it is already the subject of several of my rants, and may well be the subject of many more to come.  But last evening, March 12, 2019, Parliament voted on the revised ‘deal’ that UK Prime Minister Theresa May had dumped on their desks at around 11 pm the previous evening.

That’s correct, ladies and gentlemen.  The Referendum was almost three years ago in June 2016; Article 50 was triggered in March 2017, the vote was scheduled for yesterday, and the Prime Minister handed in her homework just the night before.  How’s that for strong and stable leadership?

Of course it is not strong and stable leadership at all, and neither is it anywhere near it; indeed, it is an affront to the people of Great Britain that Mrs May even tries to pass it off as such.

What it is, is behind-the-scenes panic, humiliating begging and a willingness to do something – anything! – as a return favour in exchange for putting something – anything! – in the document that looks different to the previous one. So the EU put a few very minor changes in it, said, here you go Theresa, and sent her on her way.  As she left they told her that those would be the final changes the EU were willing to make.  Mrs May hoped that the lateness of the ‘deal’ would be in her favour; it would give MPs very little time to analyse it properly before the vote at 7 last evening.

But yesterday morning, the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox – a Tory, mark you – said very openly and publicly that there was very little in the new ‘deal’ that was indeed ‘new.’  The Prime Minister must have known then that her number was up.

And indeed Parliament, by a majority of 149, a significant number, told Mrs May where she could shove her deal.  And the sun don’t shine there.

This has left Mrs May, the Conservative government, the party, Parliament and indeed the entire country in an extremely precarious position.  As of the time of writing, it is 16 days until the date which is enshrined in law, March 29 (European Union (Withdrawal) Act of 2018).  Under this law, we must leave the EU by that date or we will be breaking our own law.  In other words, if Parliament rejects leaving the EU without a deal on March 29, which seems likely, then a new law is going to have to be passed pronto to gain an extension to Article 50, the legal procedure that is used to extricate us from all the European rules and regulations.

Oh.  My.  God.  That our government, and their followers, would even think that leaving the EU without a deal is just crazy.  I apologise in advance for the increased use of italics here, but the madness of all of this can only be highlight in this way, or perhaps bold text just for the sake of variety.  The only reason they want to leave without a deal is so that the UK leaves now, with no delay, and gets on with setting our own rules for the price of cabbage, and all that.

If that were to happen, Brexiters will pay for that impatience.  When the United Kingdom goes flushing down the U-bend, I would hope that it hit those who voted for it the hardest.  It won’t, of course, the poorest of our society will be hit the hardest, while those with holiday homes in the Algarve won’t even notice the difference; apart from, maybe, a slight change in the nationality of their servants.

So, today, Parliament votes on whether we now leave the EU without a deal.  I would hope that they tell Mrs May where she can stick that, too; which means on Thursday (tomorrow), Parliament will then vote on whether to extend Article 50, and by how long.  (Remember, this means changing the law, which can be done in the time frame needed.)

If we do extend Article 50 (delaying the deadline by which we must leave the EU), then the big fear among our Brexit-hugging friends is that we will never leave the EU at all.  We can but hope.  But that’s why they want to do it now – not because it’s good for the country, it certainly isn’t, but so that the country does not have sufficient time to change its mind.  (By the by, polls are suggesting that if a second referendum were to take place, and it is a possibility now, the result would be very different.)

After her defeat yesterday, Mrs May did hint that a second Referendum could be one of the sweeteners in a future deal with Parliament to get this mess sorted, because it worked so well before, right?

In 2015, before the election that year, David Cameron promised a referendum to try and heal the division in his party over Europe, which no previous leader had been able to do.  In effect, he was ‘doing a John Major’; telling his party either get behind me or get out.  We’ll let the country decide, and you must follow that decision.  Cameron was very pro-E.U., and wanted to remain, indeed, so did Theresa May (then Home Secretary) for that matter.

When the Referendum did happen, both campaigned to Remain.  It will be a breeze, they thought.  What they didn’t count on was the severity of anti-immigration feeling in those deep pockets of Middle England, and interference from Russia and the US in spreading stuff about the EU that simply wasn’t true on Facebook and that.  Despite the lies and misinformation, Leave won, by a majority of 1.9%.  One point nine percent!  And suddenly, that became the “will of the people.”  Cameron was a sore loser and resigned, only for a replacement to take us out of the EU who had just been campaigning to stay in it!  Step forward Theresa May, who now believed that Leaving was for the good of the country, when just a few weeks earlier, she had been just as sincerely believing the direct opposite.

How’s that for strong & stable leadership.  This is the situation we have been in ever since.  Last night’s vote rendered her entire tenure as Prime Minister a complete waste of time.  By Friday, we could at the very least be looking for a new Prime Minister; and possibly looking at what they call a ‘snap’ general election.  A quickie election with one issue at hand: Europe.

Now, last night’s vote not only stymied the Prime Minister, but politics as a whole, because if you don’t like what the government are doing, you just go and find those in Parliament who could replace them.  But there is none; if you want strong and stable leadership, you’re not going to get it from Her Majesty’s opposition, the Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn.  His name was added to the 2015 Leadership vote in the Labour Party as a joke, and he only went and won it!  He is a leader most Labour MPs don’t want, and certainly not the ones who left the party and formed The Independent Group alongside a few disaffected Tories.

This is one of the few occasions in my lifetime where a political mess leaves no clue as to how it is going to pan out.  One statement in Mrs May’s speech last night which I agree with was that to delay Article 50 is not going to solve the problems we face, merely delay them.  The result will still be the same.  I was against holding a second referendum previously; but now, I feel it the only course of action open to the government right now because if the country were to vote to Remain, that would make all of this horrible mess go away – at least as far as the Conservative Party is concern.  They would be let off with a warning – don’t do it again.

Now, we are told that feeling among the people of this country is strong on both sides of the debate.  Perhaps it is, but not strong enough to take to the streets and peacefully protest.  I abhor violence; but remember the English Civil War of 1642-1646 started over much less than this.  The King was demanding money off Parliament because he was the appointed representative of God on Earth.  Charles I’s demands for money were simply getting too much; his father had repeatedly done it and Parliament was now fed up.  Battle ensued.

I am certainly not advocating or suggesting violent conflict of any kind.  But where are the protests?  There must have been about six people outside Westminster yesterday.  There should be thousands – millions – on the streets of Britain, and London especially.  But we are all so overfed on Strictly Come Dancing and similar shows, that we are now too emotionally fat to take to the streets.  We prefer to do our protesting on Twitter now.  But this does nobody any good at all.  The government can ignore that.  But they can’t ignore the sight of, say, one million people stuffing the streets of Westminster, turning up on the government’s doorstep.

Come on, United Kingdom!  All corners of England, Scotland, Wales and especially Northern Ireland, that bloody backstop, should be out protesting, and again I stress peacefully.  Perhaps, somewhere deep down, people know that an issue such as Europe would be very difficult to protest at a peaceful level.  People are entitled to their own views, but there can only be one right answer, and that is to Remain in the EU and benefit from their trade, movement and partnership.  To do otherwise would be to isolate us, and render us a pariah in European and World Trade.  Remember, supermarkets are stocking up on tinned foods because our supply of fresh fruit and vegetables will dry up after Brexit.

Even if we get an agreement among ourselves, we’ve still got to take it to the EU and get them to approve it, and there is no guarantee of that.  The extraordinary ineptitude of this whole thing is mind-blowing, from all parties but especially the Tories.  The responsibility for it must lie on the shoulders of both David Cameron and Theresa May.  But I will say this: not every Tory is displaying the idiocy of the party line.  My own MP, Mark Harper, a conservative with a small and a large ‘C’, voted to reject the deal yesterday.  He has been staunchly on the side of Remain since the referendum.  So, thank you for that, Mr Harper.

But I have to keep writing it in order to get my head to believe it: the ineptitude of this government is mind-blowing.  A general election in which no incumbent Member of Parliament is allowed to stand, could be the answer.  A small does of US-style politics in there; and it is something which, as things stand, is impossible.  But who would have thought that this complete political calamity was possible, either? x