Originally Posted by
jon1959
Go back to January this year. Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated by 202 votes to 432. The 432 MPs who rejected it were not all Remainers. All the DUP MPs votes against, as did 196 Tories, the vast majority of whom were Leavers - including most of the current Cabinet. Most of them voted against the May deal at least twice (Johnson, Raab, Rees-Mogg etc) and some voted her down every time she put up her deal - however many times that was. The failure to get a deal through Parliament is as much due to Brexit hard-liners as it is to Remain supporters.
And all of them were doing their job of holding the executive to account, scrutinising legislation and representing the interests of their electorate - who put them in place to do that job (on whatever Manifesto their parties had adopted) a full year after the referendum.
The failure to deliver any version of Brexit to date is not because MPs have attacked democracy. They have upheld democracy. The failure is one of confused process, intransigent and inflexible government, a failure of leadership, diplomacy and effective negotiation.
There have been any number of alternative outcomes that were possible - if Theresa May's red lines hadn't ruled them out, and if the government had tried to work with other parties in the UK and Europe in a genuine and constructive way. But the government has only ever been concerned with the interests of the Conservative Party and ending the 40 year civil war over Europe.
Over 3 years were wasted and attitudes have hardened on both sides of the argument. We are now much more polarised as a country than in 2016. Brexit has become a toxic nightmare. The majority of MPs are not responsible for that - the blame lies with the UK government. Giving that bunch of incompetent, cloth-eared idiots a blank cheque would be the real betrayal of democracy. For all its many faults Parliament has finally started (maybe too late) to show some leadership and responsibility.
Oh yes, and very few Leavers were voting for 'no deal' in the summer of 2016. That wasn't on the ballot paper and none of the Leave campaigners were offering that as an outcome.
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