Once Brexit is sorted, Theresa May has to go
Could this be the week that unlocks Brexit? Despite twice having voted down Theresa May’s proposed withdrawal agreement and despite having put on record its absolute opposition to a no-deal Brexit, parliament has failed to coalesce around an alternative proposal. A Norway-style deal, a second referendum, a general election and a significant extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process are all being talked about in Westminster but so far only the last of these options is shaping up to be viable.
Unless May gets her deal through on a third vote before Thursday, she will go to the European Council to request an extension – burdened by the ignominy of begging for it without being able to articulate why it’s needed beyond the fact that the British parliament has ground its way into an intractable stalemate. Passing the deal on a third vote this week would avoid such a humiliation and would unlock the next stage of the process. Just as importantly, it would – under the right conditions – enable the country to move out of the permanent sense of crisis that has come to characterise the entire Brexit process.
Critics of the project may say that this state of affairs is an inevitable consequence, but while it’s true that many, many things could have been done differently, there’s little point now in arguing over how we got here when a way out of it is within our grasp. As the former chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign has said, May’s deal is now the only path viable path to Brexit and to the years of hard work and opportunity that should follow.
With a deal concluded, May should stand aside. Some have suggested that this could be the final inducement she has to offer her MPs in a bid to get her deal passed, but while this may be true the case for a new Prime Minister goes beyond political horse-trading. The country needs to feel – and know – that this torturous process has led somewhere. Not just to the next stage of diplomatic negotiations, but towards a new vision of what the country could be. Prime Ministers rarely get to choose their legacy, but May must know that the only hope she has of having one is if her deal passes. After that, the country needs something – and someone – different.