Not Enough Time on the Current Calendar for Another Brexit Referendum

The conventional wisdom that seems to have cohered over the last few days is that May's Brexit deal is dead on arrival in parliament. An example is Benjamin Mueller's "Theresa May and Her Brexit Deal Are on the Brink. Here’s What We Know":

There’s little chance the deal gets through Parliament.

The agreement, struck between negotiators in Brussels and Mrs. May’s government, faces a long road ahead, even if Mrs. May manages to hold on to her job.

The first stop (if it gets that far) is a summit meeting of European Union leaders on Nov. 25. The deal has their support, and it will ultimately need the backing of the European Parliament.

More troublesome is a mid-December vote by the British Parliament, which also gets a say on the agreement. Mrs. May needs 320 votes there for a majority. By one estimate, she will have to cobble together about 85 of those from members of the opposition Labour Party and deeply skeptical allies.

The problem is that a divided country has finally been united — in disliking the deal.

For those who want Britain to remain in the European Union, the deal is worse than staying in the bloc under the current terms, because it forces Britain to adopt European trading rules without having a say in what they are.

For those who want to sever ties, it’s worse than a clean split from the European Union, because the agreement could trap the country in a regulatory system it can’t unilaterally leave.

For anyone keeping up with the reporting on Brexit the present situation was inevitable. This past summer you had Corbyn come out against May's Chequers plan; Nicola Sturgeon signaled her opposition; Boris Johnson resigned. So it has been sort of obvious since July what this outcome would be. The only thing that has kept us in a state of suspension of disbelief is a mainstream media and its "go along to get along" relationship with government.

A re-vote of the 2016 referendum seems the only clear path out of the impasse. In order for that to happen I think snap elections have to be called, a Labour government elected and then a new Brexit referendum staged.

It doesn't look like there is time for that though. The end date is March 29, 2019. If May's Brexit deal isn't going to be voted by parliament until mid-December, that means her coalition won't collapse until then (because it looks like she will survive any near-term confidence vote).

May's government has to go pronto.