I had thought that Brexit had reached absolute rock bottom a few days ago, but I was wrong. Yesterday, having rather laughingly "taken control", the House of Commons managed to reject every alternative put before them.
Having rejected Mrs May's withdrawal agreement twice, the Commons, led by the arch-Remainer and egotist John Bercow, voted on a range of possibilities from abandoning Brexit to leaving without a deal, which happens to be the current legal position in the event of no deal being agreed. Having lambasted the government for being in chaos, the Commons then demonstrated that chaos isn't confined to those around Mrs May but is just as rampant throughout parliament.
Speaker Bercow has done nothing to help things with his blatant support for anti-Brexit factions and, now, his reiteration that he will not allow the government to hold a third vote on Mrs May's agreement unless there are significant changes to the relevant motion. Across the Channel, representatives of the European Union must surely be oscillating between amazement, amusement and downright despair as they watch the UK's political class tie itself in knots.
If our MPs weren't so diametrically opposed to the result of the 2016 referendum and actually stood by their own party manifestos from 2017 as well as their previously expressed support for invoking Article 50, the UK would be leaving the EU tomorrow. Shockingly, their duplicity and anti-democratic actions mean that we won't leave until at least April 12th, unlikely though that is, possibly on 22nd May, and much more likely never.
If there is ever a resolution to this farce, Mrs May has now committed to resigning and handing over the poisoned chalice to some other poor sucker, but who will it be ? Front runners include Michael Gove, whose ambitions will surely be killed off by supporters of Boris Johnson, Sajid Javid, whose recent cock-ups at the Home Office must have severely dented his chances, and Jeremy Hunt, a somewhat suave Remainer who seems to have a Teflon coating; Boris, of course, is loved in the party at large but not supported in Parliament, though it's widely believed that if he makes it on to the shortlist of 2 names to be voted on by the national party, he will win. Dominic Raab could be another contender and, as a staunch Brexiteer, he can't be discounted, while there must also be a chance that someone like David Davis could slip in as a short term leader to deliver a Brexit trade deal and then make way for someone from a younger generation.
For what it's worth, I can't see any of the senior women in the party having a snowflake's chance of getting the job. Amber Rudd has shown her true colours as an unreliable member of the cabinet and Andrea Leadsom blew her chance a couple of years ago. Esther McVey, smart though she may be and Brexiteer with it, simply doesn't have the gravitas. Someone who I think could sneak through is current Brexit Secretary, Stephen Barclay, who was virtually unknown a few months ago. He's been sure-footed and calm at the despatch box and has generally come across well. Might he be the 'dark horse' in this race ?
Only time will tell what happens next, and when, and for whom that bell tolls.
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