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Corbyn won't leap to May's aid but he may do enough to keep things going for a while longer. Right now he wants to stand back whilst the Tories continue to self destruct. At this point in time it's best to just be in opposition and be there to point out what they're doing wrong and jeer at them, that's a lot easier than having to come up with what should be done to put it all right.Especially as there isn't a clear and obvious path for what is 'right' (in terms of the country that is still deeply divided on remain/leave) that's probably the most sensible thing to do. Picking either option (remain/leave) will alienate a significant proportion of their voters.He'll never support Brexit with May's deal, he'll never support Brexit with No Deal. And Labour would have looked at the Lib Dem's campaign on a 'remain' ticket and seen that they haven't gained as much support as one would have expected, so they're steering clear of that as a tactic for the moment.It's no great surprise that Corbyn himself wants to leave the EU, but any deal that satisfies Labour's 6 tests is just BRINO (BRexit In Name Only). All four of the freedoms that the EU wants us to retain need to stay pretty much as is now to satisfy those 6 tests, so nothing really changes (especially none of the big ticket items that the Leave campaign were promising).That just leaves 'being opposition' as the only tactic. For now.Corbyn's biggest problem is timing. He can't stand back forever otherwise there's a risk that the country will blunder towards an exit with no deal. He doesn't want a general election too early as he'll then be put in the position of having to sort it out prior to 29th Mar 2019 and, more importantly, be the person responsible for what eventually happens. Then again he doesn't want to move too quickly as a botched/mis-timed attack could bolster the Tories position at just the wrong time.Whichever party is in power when the final decision is made is toast for a considerable period. The last GE was a good election to lose for Labour. No-one wanted that poison chalice. The Tories were duty bound to take it on as it was their mess to begin with.Labour's ideal is that the Tories continue to fail to get anything through, there's further unrest (leadership changes, more infighting, more cabinet reshuffles) and eventually the Tories have no choice but revoke Article 50 (now the ECJ have said they can if it is done in good faith, not just a cheap attempt to reset the clock) with the aim of getting more time to negotiate a 'better deal' (that won't come given May's red lines and the EU's hard stance) and then Labour sweep in to power in a subsequent GE and kill the idea for good.That or the Tories cede to a second referendum (i.e. democracy), remain "wins", and A50 is revoked and we can get back to some semblance of normality and traditional political infighting.Either way, the angry Leave voters will blame the Tories for failing them, Cameron will be remembered as the leader that decimated his party's support, and millions of tiny violins will play a sad tune.I still think we will still be in the EU come 30th March 2019.

Alex Greenbank ● 2892d

I agree.  Vote for Corbyn and you get McDonnell, which would be the end of this country as we know it, with a mass exodus of the middle classes, which is what France has suffered due to draconian taxation.  There is no bourgeoisie left, (they're all in London, Dubai and Hong Kong) signalling the end of democracy in France, which is now going the way of the so-called PIGS countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain.)  And then there's Deutsche Bank...I will be roundly rebuked for saying this, and I don't like the man, but I now think Boris Johnson should take over this game of brinkmanship with Brussels, where he grew up.  He has also spent a lot of time in China during the last two years, which  is where most future trade will be.  With 90% of future growth predicted outside the EU, why are we clinging to this rapidly sinking ship?"The people" voted two years ago, and are now united by a lack of political faith.  The real division is in the House of Commons, overseen by the appallingly biassed  Bercow, with most MPs divided by trying placate their constituents, regardless of whether they wish to go or stay.  A second referendum with three options would still require the same inept politicos to sort things out.  The last one cost £194m with only two options.  Money better spend on the NHS than analysts and pollsters who got it wrong the first time round.May the Remainer should never have been in charge of Brexit, which now needs an egocentric tough-nut Brexiteer like Boris, motivated by the glory he will receive if he pulls it off.

Chantal Blake-Milton ● 2891d

I've just been reading Fintan O'Toole's Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Brexit (an early Christmas present to myself) and it's superb. O'Toole is a historian, biographer, literary critic and political commentator and his columns in the Irish Times are always stimulating: being close to but not of the British he provides an accurate assessment of British politics. This book (it's quite short so shouldn't tax the patience of even those who don't like long tomes) is a complete evisceration of the whole Brexit mess. I'll quote just one passage:Boris Johnson "embodied a fatal flaw in the Brexit project: the self-pitying grievances that it was designed to address could not in fact be addressed. Why? Because they did not exist. A revolution must cloak itself in an idea of justice: the wrongs done by our oppressors will now be righted. Political prisoners will be freed, exiles returned, land redistributed, collaborators punished, heroes rewarded. But there were no EU dungeons to be thrown open. There were only trivial fictions.The revolutionary regime that Johnson was supposed to lead could not restore the right to give donkey rides on the beaches or bring curved bananas back to the shops or stop dictating the precise size and shape of a Christmas tree or liberate British trawlermen from the ignominy of having to wear hair nets. All of these had been reported in British tabloids as oppressive realities, but they were just vivid stories, nothing more."Well worth a few hours of anyone's time!

Richard Carter ● 2880d