Ms. May is going to go down in history as the most stalwart, influential and driven PM in recent British History including Margaret Thatcher. One can only sit back and marvel at this persons ability to navigate her way through the current politically troubled English Channel waters. GB should be proud and thankful.
Brexit, like the questionable election of Donald Trump, was an emotional decision when a logical one was required. Unlike the Trump Ascension to the White House, which is probably too far along to undo, Brexit can still be stopped and the United Kingdom can restore its stature in the council of nations, to quote a biblical phrase. What needs to happen in the case of both nations is reaching out to the people dissatisfied enough to vote for such radical change and responding to their concerns in a meaningful manner. I haven't seen that yet in either country.
1
I’m pretty sure May survived the vote because no one else wants the thankless task of being responsible for Brexit - no matter what the outcome.
3
They voted "yes" for a lie and a mirage. How honoring that is "the will of the people" is ridiculous.
4
@jdawg The British government that Hamilton called the best in the world has, until the Brexit vote, had the good sense not to listen to the will of the people. The one time they do, chaos ensues.
2
The hardcore Brexit ministers in Mrs. May’s party still have blinders on. Britain is 1 country negotiating with 27. It isn’t that hard to deduct that Britain is not going to win favorable terms no matter WHO is Prime Minister.
It was embarrassing enough for the British people and for the Leave ministers that its Brexit vote forced PM Cameron to quit the next day. Now the current PM is realizing all of this isn’t worth it. She probably wants to quit but it would be career suicide and an abandonment of “Queen and country” to resign at this time. Britian would be in a weaker negotiating position with the EU if it switched to a new leader now.
4
May is a loyalists to the party, not a leader. The end result is the same: the treaty will be voted down. So why lose time, take the vote and move on. The EU has cast the UK as a renegade country, and will treat them accordingly. A hard exit is to be, so move on. England will become stronger as a result of it, over time yes, but the real loser will be the EU. And that is the point. England must consider their exit as their future. Their people will make England great again, but not until their politicians stop playing games.
1
Folks, there is far too much pleasantness being shown to Theresa May. She is not a nice person.
She sent trucks driving around certain districts in certain cities with “IN THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY? GO HOME OR FACE ARREST!” written on them, in billboards.
The hostile environment, which led to actual British citizens being deported, was May’s fanatical raison d’etre. She ramped it up to manic pitch, then let Amber Rudd take the fall.
The rich have gotten vastly richer, the middle and working classes, far less so. London and overseas territories are a laundromat of corruption yet nothing is done. Her husband avoids taxes offshore.
People have died because of her govts policies. Poor people, chronically ill people, mentally ill people. Suicides, premature deaths, unnecessary deaths, At least one starved to death. Homelessness has skyrocketed, Children in poverty ditto. The country is in a state of disrepair.
3
May survives, but the notion of any orderly or "soft" Brexit appears dead, and nobody I've read is stating it clearly.
The crux of it is North Ireland (NI). The UK has the following real choices:
* put a customs border between NI and the UK. That is seen as surrendering NI to Ireland, and may be a reality, too
* put a customs border between Ireland and NI -- that violates the Good Friday Agreement. I doubt the the EU would accept that because it is not in Ireland's interests, thus this option becomes identical to the hardest Brexit, and ...
Either of these would almost certainly reignite "the troubles." Further the Economy of NI depends on export, but also on UK subsidy. Faced with the choice however, NI's industry and people are likely better off staying in the EU, and accepting union with Ireland.
The Brexiteers who are furious with May see that the "backstop plan" is a perpetual trap, because they see the realities just mentioned. But their fury drives them into loopy-land magical thinking, that somehow there is a magical deal that will allow them to have their cake and eat it too: NI in this case.
There is none: the reality is obvious. The real choices are to remain, crash out of the EU with a very hard exit and border in Ireland, or surrender NI. Take your pick.
2
Theresa May is a hero. A small margin of percentage of U.K. citizens determined to make a a huge and complicated change that will negatively affect all U.K. citizens negatively for decades. It was mostly an emotional decision based upon poor or incorrect information flogged by a small number of political hacks, enabled by David Cameron. Most U.K. MP's seem just as brainless, gutless, and self-interested as their American cousins.There should have been an educational period of a year. Theresa May is a patriot trying to preserve democratic principles in the face of a looming disaster. Be thankful.
2
Thank you for saying this.
Every day I look at Brexit news and hope to see that the rock under which David Cameron and Boris Johnson are cowering has been lifted. But no, they're letting PM May carry on, alone, as if the worms they are had nothing to do with the country's plight.
2
Perhaps I am naive, but ever since the "Brexit" vote I have not been able to figure out why EU and British leaders have not been able to work out a deal that would provide the United Kingdom with a status similar to Iceland, Norway, and/or Switzerland, the other Western European countries that are not part of the European Union.
Many uninformed observers in the United States seem to believe that the European Union is synonymous with the whole of the European subcontinent, which of course is not true. Aside from several formerly communist countries that are not part of the EU, in the west, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland never joined the union. All three countries have long-standing agreements with the EU which facilitate free trade but do not make those three countries subject to many of the EU's regulations which seek to harmonize other policy practices.
I have a hunch that many Britons who supported the Brexit would be content with negotiating a status similar to the ones enjoyed by Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. It seems that part of the problem is that EU leaders want to punish the UK for leaving the European Union and send a message to voters in other EU countries that they should not follow the British lead. What many British wanted all along was simply to make the EU a free trade zone. European Union leaders have grander ambitions than that and they don't appear to countenance dissent.
8
@Metaphor Norway, Iceland etc are party to another agreement which allows for freedom of movement over the borders, and they pay significant dues for the EU programs they participate in (without having a say in those programs as EU members.) It's the Hard Brexit lot, who oppose EU dues and freedom of movement, who make the Norway model impossible for the UK.
23
@Metaphor
As I understand it, it is the free trade aspect of the EU that bothers Brexiteers. Free trade within the EU is predicated on common rules for the market. Brexit supporters object to being told what to do (i.e., follow the rules of the common market) by the EU. Brexit folk want to do what they want to do without following European norms. Well! Do they forget that they have their own national compliance standards? The UK post-Brexit will surely not be an anarchic state.
What gains are to be made by flaunting the larger economic market? Reports indicate that it will be very expensive and damaging to the UK economy.
5
@Metaphor Are you aware that Switzerland has been trying to join and has been confronted with no end of red tape?
3
What a mess! Whatever the terms of the final Brexit agreement, and whoever is charged with responsibility for it, a large portion of the UK electorate will find it a mistake and a failure. No one wins, everyone loses and most everyone will regret it ever happened.
12
Perhaps with her commitment not to run as Prime Minister in the next general election and with a 12 month window following this no confidence vote, this gives her the freedom to take bolder actions. Like stopping this train wreck called Brexit and holding a second referendum to remain in the European Union. The hard liners have had their way for 2 years and all they’ve got to show for this is a weaker currency and the economy becoming weaker. It’s time for her to make her mark by stopping Brexit.
17
There is only one way this can go now.
When ultimately a vote in Parliament must be cast (before the March 29 deadline) it will defeat May's Brexit plan.
In order to prevent a hard Brexit, May will revoke the Article 50 Brexit declaration.
To ratify this decision a second Brexit referendum must take place (not by law but as a political necessity).
The second vote will be to remain within the EU (now knowing that May's plan was the best deal the UK could get).
After the referendum May will step down from her position and a new Prime Minister will be chosen.
Then new elections will be called.
Corbyn as Labour party leader will lose those elections.
A new Tory PM will lead the UK.
The situation will similar to when David Cameron was Prime Minister but with a new Tory face of the party. We will have come full circle.
All of the major UK parties -- Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National -- will get their wish: No Brexit
17
@Charles
Yes, that is a perfect and logical sequence of events. But, logic and future are rarely good bedfellows. Let's see how it all plays out.
3
Through the Brexit process I have come to enormously respect Theresa May. She has an impossible job juggling the conflicting demands of conservatives, liberals, leavers, stayers, and the EU leadership. She marshals on trying to do the best she can for her country, remaining calm and persistent, in the face of receiving mean barbs across political party lines. Good luck Theresa May! May more people appreciate your demeanor, resolve, and love of the UK.
19
She is passing Brexit through a Devolved Scottish, Irish and Welsh Devolved Assemblies two of which voted Remain. The Withdrawal Act takes funds from Scotland ( currently devolved), back to Westminster for SEVEN years, these funds are needed for the young, the sick, the elderly.... all the Priority Groups. Very like a current US President and Obama Care. Mrs May is not a strong leader, she called a snap General Election in 2017, and lost a crucial majority, which has seen her in political bed with NI DUP Party, a group of ten who have strong links to Unionist Terrorism and were funding atrocities during the Troubles. She had to beg for a years grace from her OWN Party last night, and even then 33% voted against her.
They cannot get the deal they want from the EU and changing leaders is not going to do anything but add to the complete dysfunction of the government. I think they owe the voters a second referendum simply because it is now quite apparent that the Brexit that looms is not at all the Brexit that was promised. I think at this point they might well find that the vast majority prefer to stay in the EU rather than follow an indecisive and chaotic leadership into the unknown.
21
@Alexandra Hamil
Unfortunately, that is like negotiating with Trump voters. The Brexit people are angry and full of vindictive envy and they have been whipped up by liars just as Trump has done here. It's all quite sad. White British men are the least educated and mostly likely to be unemployed people in Britain. Sound familiar?
20
While I agree May has an impossible job, it’s a job she campaigned for. It’s was clear to everyone at the outset that whoever engineered the deal would be torn to shreds.
May was a Remain, and she needs the political courage to say the obvious, which is that Brexit is a terrible idea. Her career is over. She may as well do the right thing and hold a second referendum.
39
This problem with the anti-Europe agenda among the Tories is that, like support for Trump in the US, it is based on fantasy not reality. There is no scenario under which the UK economy does better leaving the EU, and all the hard-luck voters who imagined that somehow leaving the EU would improve their lot will be worse off if Brexit comes to pass. Like Trump voters, they conflate unavoidable global economic trends with negative effects of specific international ties. Soon they will learn, like soy bean farmers in the US Midwest, that cutting off international ties does not bring back the 1950s, single earner middle class households, social homogeneity, or "greatness" of any kind. It's sad that people will apparently have to learn the downside of protectionism all over again.
94
@Mr. Bill What they will learn, unfortunately, is that the march to effectively rebuild the Soviet empire continues with no obstacles...Brexit was but a piece of their machinations, aided by Britain's equivalent of Trumpian uninformed masses of fools that don't even know that they've done themselves immeasurable harm by listening to their hardliners...but such is the inevitable social-Darwin principle (which is, it's all about class warfare as far as the upper classes see it), which has yet to be refuted by outcomes.
1
I think it is interesting that two of the world's most popular women (May & Pelosi) won their leadership challenge today by promising to leave by 2022. And Merkel on her way out, too.
2
Humbling?! What should be humbling is to be identified as one who sits back just outside the arena but offering nothing but criticism and no confidence.
What we really need across the world is more humility not less. Hold your head high, Minister May!!
1
She deserves much credit. she sees the future clearer than her opponents.
1
David Cameron has a lot to answer for. He may have done as much damage to the British constitutional order as Donald Trump is doing to ours. Where is the atonement on his part?
5
I guess we'll get to watch as the UK crashes and burns when no Brexit deal is approved. And it would be relatively easy to have a second referendum which would likely wisely keep Great Britain in the European Union. But of course the initial uninformed and gut feelings of the slim majority must be honored. And so we get to watch the UK crash and burn.
I must say, democracy is really not as beneficent and wonderful as it is trumped (Ah, yes Trump) to be.
2
Fascinating that the two most politically powerful women in the UK and US, May and Pelosi, have consolidated their power in their respective parties by promising to step down when their tasks at hand are complete by limiting the amount of time they will continue to lead. Both of these women seem to be putting country before personal power grabs, a remarkable sight in this day and age.
10
I truly give her credit for trying to get the best possible agreement together that she could muster, but when she reached the point that the Brexit deal on offer was worse than staying in the EU, she should've had the courage to speak up and say that the people of the UK were making a mistake by leaving.
4
The British have to realize that if they really want Brexit they must choose among a "hard" border with the Republic of Ireland, a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, or remaining subject to EU rules with no say in them.
Or they can just call the whole thing off.
Ms. May had an impossible task, so it is not her failure.
5
I don't know whether one should read too much into it, but two powerful women - T. May and N. Pelosi - who have been politically embattled, have struck very similar deals this week of staying on, while agreeing to relinquish power in not too distant future. I wonder whether there is a message here that women's political instincts and emotional intelligence are less affected by narcissism, and hence they could potentially be better equipped to be more effective and true servant leaders? I know it is a gross generalization, but I am just wondering..., for example, if there had been at least some women in power in 1914, could the disaster of WWI have been avoided?
4
Encountering resistance and having to submit to a confidence vote is not humbling to a grownup, decent person, having no personal expectations of perfection to begin with...wish we had a few like that on our side of the Pond.
2
Humbling!?! I believe Ms. May made a decision to put her country first and herself second. That is a courageous decision,
4
Who would want this thankless job. Ms. May at least has the dedication to serve the UK's people's interests (if not their prejudices) while everyone else takes the easy, infantile shots.
4
No one wants her job but many want to criticize her for stepping up at a difficult time to lead. The cowards who keep voting no on her proposals are not offering anything for her to work for so the only assumption I can come up with is they are looking for someone to blame should it go bad and in the process she had to offer herself up. That is leading. We could use some of that in the US.
2
BREXIT is the equivalence of Dunkirk without any ship. PM May didn't want it to start. Where are the people who pounded the table back in 2016? The first thing Boris Johnson quitted when it passed. And Nigel Farage? He is quitting UKIP again.
BREXIT is like the Corpse Flower. Everyone hollers from a distance but no one wants to get close. And it stinks!
4
Theresa May has already been Prime Minister for 2.5 years, should she step down in late 2021 she will have served for 5.5 years, which is hardly a short tenure, especially for someone who was thrust to the top for reasons other than her vision or charisma. In any event, at this juncture, given the fact that the UK is teetering on the brink of the unknown how can she or anyone else be looking so far ahead? Brexit is not completed, the reality of leaving the EU has yet to manifest, Scotland could seek to leave the UK, and the economy my sink any hope conservatives have in winning in 2022.
2
Everyday I admire PM May more and more...right wing ideologues brought this economic mess on, left town, and left May to clean up the mess--and it is a complex mess, which now the public realizes---So, now it is kill the messenger time---May being the messenger. All those backbenchers screaming at her don't have a clue how to correct this mess---they can only yell one-liners. Why she doesn't she walk out and say....OK Boris let's see your strategy in action.
17
Who would want Ms. May's task? They should all be grateful. She must be asking herself if she isn't crazy to keep this up.
9
I don't think another referendum is needed. Mrs. May needs to stop dragging her feet and do what needs to get done. It was June 23, 2016, two full years ago, that Britain voted for withdrawal from the EU.
3
@John Somehow I don't get the impression you've been following this closely. May has hardly been "dragging her feet". She's been working very hard and very diligently to implement something extremely difficult without destroying the British economy.
18
The very idea of Brexit is insanity. As humiliating as the negotiations have been, I look forward to the unbelievable shame a few years from now when Britain sheepishly begs the EU to readmit them after 5–10 years of economic catastrophe. And the EU says "No".
She should step down now. Her plan is non-existent, she doesn't actually have the support of the majority of the people, and it should be clear by now that ideology just doesn't cut it when it comes to politics, you have to think about actual people, and care about them, two things May is incapable of.
7
Let's all remember this chaos when next time - someone tells us that we would have been better off under an unelected leader as Brits are.
I would take our democracy - with all it's foibles - any time.
No wonder, the ex prime minister of Canada at 41st eulogy said this
"......, I believe it will be said that in the life of this country of the United States, which in my opinion is the greatest democratic republic that God has ever placed on the face of the earth..."
2
@Neil
I disagree. In a representative parliamentary democracy (UK, Germany) the PM/Chancellor leave when they lose the confidence of the people. The nonsense we have in the White House right now would have been over a long time ago.
I admire Mrs. May. She is showing incredible realism, dignity and responsibility in the face of very difficult issues. I haven't seen a US politician in position of power doing so in about 2 years.
8
Taking it out on Jeremy Corbyn is a bit thick--it's not he who created this mess.
If anyone needs calling out, it's David Cameron. He's the one that held the referendum.
27
Boris Johnson, the Blathering Haystack, is no doubt giggling with delight. Having cynically encouraged the Brexit initiative, then bailed out when it unexpectedly succeeded, he’s no doubt giddy at the prospect of May’s career being eternally tarred by this debacle, no matter how it plays out. In 2022 he can ride back on his white horse, nose in the air, to reclaim 10 Downing Street for the upper classes.
8
Brexit was funded by Russian propaganda, making the vote invalid. Hold a new referendum where Britons can express their opinion free of outside manipulation.
18
I find all the 'positioning' around Theresa May's staying or going was wholly disingenuous. She is no more a failure than a nail a is a failure for not being able to be driven by a hammer though a slab of steel. The EU did not bend for her nor would it have bent for anyone else. To make PM May responsible for this is stupid- just stupid- which is to say political. Not only would changing leaders now be dumb, but who really would want it? Would Labor want it so they could back away and call a new referendum? Possibly. But the EU is not going to change the deal regardless of what the UK does so what good is a new PM? PM May has done a fabulous jobs and kept her head up the whole time. Keeping her temper, her self respect and her decorum has been a herculean task with 'dogs' nipping at her heels from all quarters. Getting a better deal has been beyond the grasp of any UK PM. The EU has been in control and it has stuck to its mission of creating as much havoc as possible to deter others from following the UK OUT... Now the EU Commission has Italy to deal with and new fiscal misses in France..Sicc'um! Unleash the dogs of peace!
11
@robert brusca --the people who voted for Brexit also bear considerable blame for believing a fairy-tale fantasy, and evidently refusing to accept reality even now.
I haven't heard any of the hard-brexit clowns admit that they will end up doing one of two things if they do: surrendering North Ireland to Ireland, or beggaring it, and either of these will reignite the "troubles."
The bright spots oft he North Irish economy depend on integration with the EU. Rationally NI should integrate with Ireland, it is the "unionist/loyalist" political factions who in effect hold Brexit for the rest of the UK hostage.
Should the UK keep NI in a "hard Brexit" it will become the bleeding sore of the UK again.
the brits put themselves in an impossible situation when Cameron screwed this up.
coupled with the crazies who fell for all the lies spewed out by the anti EU crowd--who knew brits could be as dumb as the Americans who voted for el trumpo?
except the pro Brexit crowd basically admitted they'd been 'misleading' the 'folks' as soon as the votes were tallied up.
8
Theresa May has ‘pluck’ as the Brits sometimes say. Good for her. She seems to have a sincere motivation to do what is best for Brexit, even if she voted for ‘remain’
She is a Stateswoman with a belief that she can successfully negotiate the deal with the E.U. while also figuring in a practical way, what is possible for the U.K. to get from this international organization.
She is the ‘Iron Lady’ for out times and won’t be intimidated by mostly men leading the charge against her.
10
I wonder why you think this is a humiliating step. I would not call it brave, but nevertheless. I would rather call it realistic. If she thinks this will save her country, it is even brave. However, the only sensible thing to do, at this moment, is going for a new referendum. Britannia is never again going to rule the waves.
15
It seems to me that Theresa May needs to recognize the obvious, which is that another referendum is needed, make that her position, then call for her vote of confidence.
13
@gbc1 -- The BBC has had an interview with a major pollster who reports that the outcome of a new referendum would be the same as the first.
2
@Cookin How about letting the people decide what the "outcome" will be? This "major pollster" can have his one, single vote too, but let's not allow him singlehandedly to determine the entire matter.
8
@Cookin ahh Let's recall that the first polls about the first referendum were wrong! So what value is a poll here, whatever it says? I don't think we can do 'pretend voting' by poll with any confidence whatsoever.
3
Let Boris Johnson have a turn at being PM. His much-touted Brexit will explode in his face and the world will see that the (would-be) emperor has no clothes.
15
UK race to irrelevance accelerates.
12
I really don’t like the way this is framed consistently as May fighting for her political life. Who cares about her political life. Who cares about personality conflicts and this kind of stupid drama when there is a much more consequential drama playing out that will impact tens of millions of lives? This kind of horse race framing is incredibly damaging and short sighted.
59
@QTCatch10
I've thought that from the very beginning. May is not the issue; she's merely a scapegoat for the disaster engineered by the public school-boy crowd in her party. (Why she volunteered for that thankless role is a mystery to me, & I wonder why none of the pundits have asked that question. Was it her allegiance to the Tory Party? Was it merely blind ambition to be PM, no matter what?) In the meantime, David Cameron, by walking away from the horrific mess that he created, has completely escaped criticism.
30
It is one of the greatest ironies of the Trump Era that I find myself hoping for the UK to work out its peaceful exit from the EU, while realizing that I'm on the same side as Trump.
I hope the EU is listening to the serious implications of what is happening in the UK. Federalism is a dangerous power tool with great self-destructive potential. The EU needs to learn that what God hath put together often is best to be allowed to go assunder.
3
Right. Because splits and screamings and racisms have always worked out great for Europe, haven’t they?
13
@Sequel The United States is a federalist system. I guess the difference is the US decided 150 years ago that leaving the united federation was NEVER an option.
2
@Sequel I hope the UK votes again and stays IN. The US will get a much more sympathetic ear and influential voice in the affairs of the EU if the UK is part of it instead of out of it.
3
I wish Theresa May the best of luck! With dilettantes such as Boris Johnson throwing darts from outside the arena she deserves support from the broad base. Or they need to stay in the EU.
7
If ever a political party had a talent for eating it's own it's the British Tories. Sadly, the last time such an open rebellion occurred was during the premiership of the last (and first and only other) female leader, Margaret Thatcher. In the current situation, if the government falls and if Britain fails to leave the EU then it won't be because of the Labor Party opposite but rather the reactionaries in the Mrs. May's own party. It's indeed rare to witness a more hard working and well meaning and even tempered politician than Theresa May. Regardless of how this all plays out, I am firmly of the opinion that she has done the best job possible in a most untenable situation. In order to carry out the mandate of the BREXIT referendum and NOT have a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is a task that would befuddle the wisdom of Solomon. I haven't heard ONE plan from anyone that would allow for the UK to leave AND not interfere with the passage of goods and people between the inhabitants of the Irish island. It's a profoundly difficult matter and a touchy one at that. NO ONE wants to open that can of worms again after years of relative peace in Ireland and it appears to me that Mrs. May has done her best to accommodate all sides, leaving none an absolute winner but negotiating a give and take. IF she's ousted by her own members then they deserve to have the HORRID Jeremy Corbin as the next Prime Minster of the United Kingdom.
20
Many of the Conservative Brexiteers have simply never been able to accept the fact that the sun has long since set on the British Empire, that they are no longer the Workshop ofthe World, and that their country is now just another small island off the coast of the Eurasian continent. It’s still not too late to see reason and stay with the EU, which is clearly a better option than all the rest; but the radical Brexiteers will flatly reject that option and make May their scapegoat for the failure to achieve the impossible, a Brexit that actually benefits the majority who believed the demagogues and voted for it. If she loses the vote tonight, she should resign immediately and be done with the ungrateful fools. Once they have made the inevitable mess of the Brexit process, she will be vindicated and can return to the leadership—assuming the Conservatives are smart enough to call her back.
11
Save yourself May. Bow out. The politics in Brexit are so tangled and her rep is suffering greatly. She is no longer effective as Prime minister.
5
@DENOTE MORDANT ...and no else will be any more effective either. So why not leave? She is a patriot and she understands this. Like many Brits she has that stiff upper lip and grit that enables her to see the risk to her one self and the backbone to take that next step anyway. I find her enormously appealing despite the fact that she is surely set to fail AND SHE KNOWS IT. Thatcher rode a wave of support. May is out there by herself. Everyone else - EVERYONE- is looking for their angle their time to jump in and make their mark. It is Theresa May's disregard for her own well -being that is noble beyond what you see in any other politician these days. All the others just want the power and perks of office. I swear she only wants to serve. God Bless Her! This is her finest hour.
2
Apparently the older generation in the UK is really nostalgic for rationing.
54
Some NYT articles seem to portray Ms. May as the responsible compromise middle.
But when the opposing ends are sensible and not, compromise is not responsible. Check with Neville Chamberlain on that.
Any Brexit is foolish in two ways: worse economically; and its Irish border issue will lead to UK breakup into England, North Ireland, Scotland.
The only sensible path is new people vote, based on their learning something of the preceding paragraph, leading to people voting NO BREXIT.
It's appalling that no one among the 650 MPs has risen to provide leadership on that path,
25
@Dick Purcell -- the other path of a hard Brexit that breaks up the UK amidst great hardship is probably what they will get.
North Ireland is likely to be a disaster zone following Brexit. it's industrial manufacture is heavily dependent on integration with, and exports to, the EU. Logically it should stay in the EU, but the unionist/loyalist factions will not abide unifying with Ireland and doing so. And there is the problem of English subsidies, but if the UK keeps North Ireland the English will go back to the enormous pacification costs and much larger subsidies as "the troubles" reignite ... until the bleeding gets too much to bear.
Scotland is a different problem -- it would need to radically trim it's government's budget to stay in the EU, without English subsidies ..,. problems made worse by the decline of north Sea oil.
On the other hand Scotland has a very large fraction of the EU's good wind resource. It's about the only place in the EU with good on-shore wind power, and it has a lot of north-sea wind.
The argument to keep May is the same as the argument to keep Brexit: too late to change now! We may want to change, we may be sure that our original decisions were crazy bad, but we have no choice but to stay the course!
It’s not too late, but that’s the sum total of the argument.
Rich Tories playing games with people’s lives, as ever.
(Worth noting: the general public do not get a say in this. Our PM may change, but as it’s an internal Tory leadership wrangle, only Tory MPs and members can vote. The fact they are also in government and their party leader is the (nationally) elected PM apparently matters not. Imagine if you will if the GOP held a new vote amongst registered Republicans in 2017 and decided to replace Trump with Paul Ryan without asking the entire populace).
(Oh and yes, our political system is thoroughly messed up, and in times of trouble is clearly not up to scratch. It needs a thorough overhaul but this won’t happen because, well, turkey MPs would never vote for Christmas).
3
The 13 American colonies were perhaps the first members of a fickle federal union to claim contract fraud and to opt out.
I do believe that England, Great Britain, and even the UK have lots to potentially gain from membership in the EU. They have large potential losses tho too, and the EU has never had anything approaching an Abraham Lincoln who could negotiate a compromise on the EU's behalf.
Indeed, it behaves like the American federation long before the Civil War, refusing to recognize massive cleavages and inconsistencies in its structure, as a hedge against the necessity of having to fix them ... a process currently known as "kicking the can."
3
@Sequel Re: "The 13 American colonies were perhaps the first members of a fickle federal union to claim contract fraud and to opt out." Perhaps not. Why, for example--a random example out of many--, doesn't the Roman Empire splitting into a Gallic Empire and a Palmyrene Empire in the year 260 count? Sure, that was rather a different historical situation, but not anywhere as different as the American succession from England was from UK's leaving the EU. If I'm comparing apples and oranges, you're comparing bananas and moon dust.
4