The 2020 Trap.

Way back in 2017 when we were debating whether Thresa May would invoke article 50, there was a deadline that was quite firmly fixed in the Brexiteer consciousness: 2020.

In fact when the Lisbon Treaty was signed by Gordon Brown way back when, there was a realisation that it would lead to a federation of EU states and that 2020 was the crucial year when everything changes and the ability to leave the EU peacefully

In 2020 there is a major change with the relationship between the EU and it's nation states. Large amounts of government suddenly comes under EU control.

There was a bit a debate about whether invoking article 50 would be delayed such that the 2-year negotiation period would take us into 2020 and by default the steel trap of the Lisbon Treaty would spring shut and we would be denied the ability to leave forever.

This latest delay until December looks perilously close to the 2020 deadline.

I just wonder if this is a deliberate tactic: if we don't leave, then by default we stay indefinitely if we stay over the 2020 deadline.

Either way, Theresa may should resign. She's failed to get concessions from the EU on the Irish border issue. She has failed to deliver an agreement on Brexit that the House of Commons can agree on. When they rejected her deal, she failed to deliver a no-deal Brexit. She has failed to deliver a Brexit on time. Having got an extension past the March deadline, she has failed to deliver Brexit by the extended deadline. Is there any expectation she can deliver Brexit by December?

I thought not.

It beggars belief that she has agreed a deal with the EU. It is insoluble and immovable. It is agreed. It cannot be changed, yet here she is, presenting it to Parliament so far 4 times and every time it gets rejected. She has to be deranged. Otherwise how do you explain presenting the same thing to Parliament time after time and expecting a different result?

The deal will not change between now and December. The change that will come is political. Given enough prevarication we will trip over the Lisbon treaty deadline and be locked in for good.

I said way back in 2016 that the Brexit vote would suffer some shifty dealings, but for it all to be so blatant... fuck me!