Well, the House of Commons has spoken and Theresa May's proposed Brexit deal has been roundly rejected. Rather than coming up with anything in the way of sensible alternatives, Jeremy Corbyn's Labour mob have simply tabled a motion of no confidence in the government in an attempt to force a general election, which would create even more turmoil.
Despite last night's defeat, Mrs May seems highly likely to win the confidence vote, meaning that the exercise foisted on Parliament by a wholly dysfunctional Labour Party will have been a waste of time and effort, time and effort that might have been more usefully employed in trying to find a way through the Brexit mire. Mrs May will apparently be spending much of her time over the next 2 or 3 days in having probably pointless discussions with politicians from various parties and with various points of view as she does attempt to reach some sort of consensus that would be acceptable to Parliament. For its part in the mess, the European Union seems hell bent on merely sticking to its stance, which appears to be very similar to that adopted by General de Gaulle throughout the 1960s when his recurrent answer to the UK's desire to join the then European Economic Community was a stern "Non".
Against this backdrop, Mrs May, assuming she does survive the vote of confidence tonight, will have to come back to the House of Commons on Monday to tell MPs how she plans to proceed. Clearly the EU is going to offer Mrs May no help, in fact, it may well see yesterday's events as being a step along a path to reversing the Brexit process altogether. Clearly Mr Corbyn is going to offer no assistance as his only ambition is to use Brexit as a mechanism by which he may be able to force his way into the Prime Minister's seat; for someone who is well known to have little love for the EU, his now expressed view that the UK should seek to remain within its customs' union is a contradiction and complete reversal. However, there may be some wriggle room with a few back bench Labour members who have little love for Corbyn and could be more amenable to supporting Mrs May if her deal can be tweaked a bit.
The Scottish Nationalists, Liberals and Greens (all 1 of them) are noisy and committed Europhiles, as would be Plaid Cymru if Wales as a whole hadn't voted for Brexit. At least a third of Conservative MPs have rejected Mrs May's deal and the only reliable ally the Conservatives have, the Democratic Unionists from Northern Ireland, have also turned it down. Where do we go next ?
To answer my own question "I have no idea". In order to get an agreement through Parliament, about 115 MPs have to be convinced to change their minds and vote in favour, net of any who decide to change their vote the other way. The DUP members will only do so if the infamous 'Irish Backstop' is removed or, at least, watered down to such an extent that it becomes meaningless. Ardent 'Brexiteers' are insistent that the current deal is simply a bad deal; they want the backstop removed and much more progress on moving to a free trade agreement to be included. Ardent 'Remainers' want the deal to include commitments to retain close ties to the EU, meaning that we might stay in the single market and customs' union.
To me, these competing objectives seem utterly irreconcilable. With a majority of MPs wanting us to stay in the EU, how can there possibly be an agreement about leaving unless that agreement leaves us so tightly bound to the union as to be no more nor less than a vassal state ? That the people voted to leave is rapidly becoming irrelevant; the liberal elite, the establishment, is determined to have its way and will grind its opponents into the dust, along with any remaining semblance of democracy that exists in our country.
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