So what could happen next?
The recent votes on amendments to the current Brexit strategy have shown a rather chaotic and unpredictable pattern. There is such a thing as chaos theory, after all, and the Brexit votes this week have shown it is more than mere theory.
After rejecting Theresa May's deal with the EU again, by a margin of 149 votes, Parliament then voted to stop Britain leaving the European Union under any circumstances yesterday by a knife-edge margin of 4 votes, however today it heavily rejected a motion for a second referendum, a motion on which most Labour MPs abstained (25 Labour MPs voted in favour, with 18 voting against), rejected a motion to stop the current deal being voted on a third time (a third vote will happen next week) voted down by just 2 votes a motion that would have given Parliament real control over the Brexit process in a bitter blow for British democracy, and rejected by just 16 votes an amendment that would have immediately sought an extension to Article 50. This came just five minutes before MPs voted by 210 votes to delay Brexit by three months from the original withdrawal date of 29th March, which is only 15 days from now. Very chaotic indeed.
The big question is, what could happen next?
Either:
1. We end up with enough delays to stop Brexit happening at all in practice.
This has become more of a possibility this month, especially with such heavy rejections of the current deal and the fact a no-deal Brexit could have catastrophic socio-economic consequences for Britain. Both British and European courts have ruled that revoking Article 50 is possible, even if at such a late stage in the process. In light of the chaos the whole issue of Brexit has caused, and the lack of time for other options this route is the only way out if a no deal Brexit is to be avoided.
Or:
2. We end up crashing out of the European Union without a deal by default.
The vote to stop Britain leaving without a deal is not actually binding, and the deal in question has been decisively rejected twice in two months. However, it is now too late to obtain a different deal from the European Union at this point barring the exceptional circumstance of a long extension to Article 50; the EU is at present unwilling to grant either.
Article 50 still takes effect irrespective of whether the deal is approved or not by Parliament.
After rejecting Theresa May's deal with the EU again, by a margin of 149 votes, Parliament then voted to stop Britain leaving the European Union under any circumstances yesterday by a knife-edge margin of 4 votes, however today it heavily rejected a motion for a second referendum, a motion on which most Labour MPs abstained (25 Labour MPs voted in favour, with 18 voting against), rejected a motion to stop the current deal being voted on a third time (a third vote will happen next week) voted down by just 2 votes a motion that would have given Parliament real control over the Brexit process in a bitter blow for British democracy, and rejected by just 16 votes an amendment that would have immediately sought an extension to Article 50. This came just five minutes before MPs voted by 210 votes to delay Brexit by three months from the original withdrawal date of 29th March, which is only 15 days from now. Very chaotic indeed.
The big question is, what could happen next?
Either:
1. We end up with enough delays to stop Brexit happening at all in practice.
This has become more of a possibility this month, especially with such heavy rejections of the current deal and the fact a no-deal Brexit could have catastrophic socio-economic consequences for Britain. Both British and European courts have ruled that revoking Article 50 is possible, even if at such a late stage in the process. In light of the chaos the whole issue of Brexit has caused, and the lack of time for other options this route is the only way out if a no deal Brexit is to be avoided.
Or:
2. We end up crashing out of the European Union without a deal by default.
The vote to stop Britain leaving without a deal is not actually binding, and the deal in question has been decisively rejected twice in two months. However, it is now too late to obtain a different deal from the European Union at this point barring the exceptional circumstance of a long extension to Article 50; the EU is at present unwilling to grant either.
Article 50 still takes effect irrespective of whether the deal is approved or not by Parliament.
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