March 29, 2019 was supposed to be the day the UK left the EU, the UK's very own ‘independence day’. After more than 2 years with the clock running, today was the day Prime Minister Theresa May pledged Britain would leave the European Union. Leavers were to be celebrating, champagne and bunting the order of the day. Remainers drowning their sorrows. However, as it stands, the champagne is still on ice, no tears have yet been shed, and the UK will not be leaving today, we may not even leave next month, or the month after, maybe not even in 2019.
Unless there is some sort of divine intervention, May’s last-ditch attempt to win MPs’ backing for her EU divorce deal looks set to fail, again, with both Labour and the DUP saying they will vote against the deal in its current form. Corbyn, the leader of the opposition, said supporting the deal would be akin to a ‘blindfold Brexit’ as there would be no prospect of influencing the future relationship between the UK and the EU. If he wanted ‘influence’ within the EU, maybe both he and Cameron should not have run such a half-hearted shambolic campaign to stay in the first place.
If as expected today’s vote fails for the third time, as it stands the UK will leave the EU on the 12th April. However, it’s believed the EU might offer the UK a take-it-or-leave-it option of leaving the EU without a deal on that date, or accepting a longer delay of up to a year. If there was to be a later delay, the UK would have to take part in the European elections on the 23rd May, adding to the complications. Yesterday, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, is said to have told diplomats that a no deal Brexit is now ‘the most plausible outcome’.
The words ‘laughing stock’ come to mind.