I can’t even believe it’s been almost three years since Great Britain’s disastrous Brexit vote. It really was a harbinger of political bulls–t to come on an international scale. At various times, I’ve covered some updates to the still-unfolding Brexit drama but I still don’t understand what’s happening, honestly. I’ve seen some tweets and commentary from actual British political people who feel similarly too – like, what is even happening? What’s the solution? Is there a solution? Well, Vanity Fair did a piece which I found rather helpful – it explains what will be happening in the next few weeks, as Theresa May’s government begins to bump up against the March 29th deadline they set for Brexit, and whether the EU is going to let the Brits have a three-month extension on deal-making. Or something, I honestly still don’t know. You can read the full VF piece here.

There is no perfect analogy for Brexit, the surreal game-theoretical political divorce that was slated to conclude on March 29, at 11 pm, London time. This was the date by which the United Kingdom, as directed by a slender majority of voters nearly three years ago, was meant to free itself from its former partners and, flush with new trade deals, start to enjoy being single again. The trouble is: splits are messy. On Thursday, after failing for months to come to any sort of agreement on how Britain should disentangle itself from Europe, and with few new trade deal in hand, lawmakers in Parliament voted to delay the Brexit process by at least three months. Ironically, it now falls to the European Commission to decide whether to accept Britain’s can-kicking or kick Britain to the curb.

The public face of this embarrassment is Prime Minister Theresa May, who has twice attempted to sell Westminster on some variation of her Withdrawal Agreement, only to be rebuffed by historic margins. Earlier in the week, May tried to persuade conservatives that last-minute pledges from the European Commission would save Britain from the dreaded Irish backstop—an insurance policy against a hard border across Ireland that Brexiteers fear could hold the U.K. in a state of de facto vassalage to the European Union. Instead, she was rejected on Tuesday by a coalition of Tories, Labour, independents, and every single MP from the Liberal Democrats, Scotland’s National Party, and May’s ostensible allies in the Democratic Unionist Party. The final tally was 391 to 242.

After her loss, May delivered a solemn warning to Parliament. “Let me be clear that voting against leaving without a deal and for an extension does not solve the problems we face,” she rasped. “The E.U. will want to know what use we mean to make of such an extension, and the House will have to answer that question.” Should Britain continue its shambolic pursuit of a clean separation from Europe? Should there be a general election, or a second referendum? “These are unenviable choices,” she continued, “but thanks to the decision the House has made this evening, they are choices that must now be faced.”

Or perhaps not. On Wednesday, May’s authority was further diminished when she was openly defied by members of her own Cabinet in a vote rejecting a no-deal Brexit. For May, the threat of a no-deal had been a useful bargaining chip in trying to coerce MPs into supporting her deal. But lawmakers have become increasingly fearful of “sleepwalking” toward an economic calamity. Thursday, of course, saw more theatrics as lawmakers voted by a majority of 210 to seek an extension to the withdrawal process. Eight cabinet ministers moved against May including, incredibly, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay, who had spoken in favor of the government motion just moments before.

[From Vanity Fair]

Apparently, if May gets her deal tomorrow, May will ask the EU for a three month extension, which the EU will likely grant…? And if Parliament doesn’t agree, then the UK would participate in the European elections and as VF says, it would “increase the chances of a softer Brexit or a second referendum.” Well… why not do that? I really don’t understand!! Doesn’t the majority WANT a soft Brexit or a second referendum? Isn’t that why MPs have been voting down May’s every move? I was going to ask how is it – with all of these body-blows to May – there hasn’t been a vote of no confidence, but then I realized that literally no one else wants to be prime minister at this point. Ugh. Also: so, it’s looking more and more like March 29th isn’t going to be the the point of no return for Britain? What happens if they get a three-month extension and do next to nothing in those three months?

Photos courtesy of WENN.