The Brexit Chronicles

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Published on December 10th, 2018.

If the Cabinet revolt against Theresa May's abject surrender document was a delayed explosion a few weeks ago, the announced postponement of the parliamentary vote on it scheduled for tomorrow is a premature detonation.

We now have a Prime Minister and government so bereft of authority that they lack the confidence to submit the agreement they've spent the last two years negotiating for parliamentary approval, and is it any wonder?

Still, May's attempted Brexit sabotage continues. She knows full well that the EU aren't going to make the concessions now that they refused to make earlier; the best she can hope to achieve are 'clarifications' on some issues, which not being material alterations to a legally binding treaty will asuage few in the Commons when the agreement returns to be voted on at a time yet to be announced, though I suspect after Christmas now. So the whole point of dragging out the inevitable for yet longer is to effectively 'play it into the corners' for as long as possible, to waste as much time as possible before resubmitting the same old discredited deal as late as possible, claiming it is her way or the highway; a choice between what is on offer or the 'chaos' of 'falling out of the EU without a deal', at which point a panicking house, unsettled by market uncertainty and the effect on sterling collectively decides to legislate for a second referendum as well as a 'pause' to the Article 50 declaration coming into effect.

A referee would issue a yellow card for such blatant time wasting, but with the connivance of the political class, she's going to get away with it.
Like Charlie Brown of the Peanuts cartoon about to punt the football, only to have Lucy snatch it away from him at the last minute, we're going to find ourselves landing flat on our rump, realising we've been had. And then the ill-feeling will begin to fester...