Brexit was designed to fail
It was never meant to succeed
![Theresa May.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dEyg2bLhGS5rWedCzupa6W-415-80.jpg)
Too big to fail? Please. The 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's membership in the European Union involved a constitutional question so large it was too big to succeed.
This is the only reason the national vote on Brexit was ever allowed to take place. Like Ted Heath and John Major before him, former British Prime Minister David Cameron found himself faced with the impossible task of placating the Tory Party's right wing. His exceedingly clever answer was to pretend to give them everything they have ever wanted. Ever since Enoch Powell and Michael Foot led the cross-brench opposition to the European Economic Community in the 1970s, it has been argued by opponents of the European experiment that if they only had the chance to vote on the subject again, British people would reject it. Here was a chance for Tory right-wingers like John Redwood and hardline Labour socialists Dennis Skinner to prove that they were right. Much to Cameron's surprise, they were.
It also turned out this didn't matter. In the Westminster system a referendum has all the constitutionally binding power of the annual CPAC presidential straw poll. The results can say anything they like — it doesn't matter if there is no parliamentary majority in place to enforce the will of the British people.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Not every opponent of European integration was fooled. The Mail on Sunday's Peter Hitchens, perhaps the wisest and certainly among the most amusing critics of the E.U., urged his readers not to vote in the referendums on the grounds that the result would be meaningless. If the British people really wished to leave, he said, they ought to have voted into power a political party whose manifesto committed the country to withdrawal by an act of Parliament. Because of the bizarre fault lines upon which support for the E.U. fall, ones that divide both of Britain's major political parties, this was never very likely to happen. But at least it made sense.
On Friday, Theresa May's Brexit deal failed for the third time, despite a ploy of her own nearly as clever as Cameron's decision to call the referendum in the first place. This was her offer to resign as prime minister if the bill passed. May was right to surmise that many hard-right Brexiteers loathe her with a fury that defies all logical explanation or ideological justification. Much of it is barely disguised misogyny. Unlike Cameron's cynical maneuver, however, May's bid for what wags should be calling "Therexit" strikes me as having been meant to succeed. The poor woman. I'm sure she is sick of this thankless job. Who wouldn't be?
My guess is that Friday's failure will lead to another extension of some kind that attempts to prolong the debate about the terms of exit for awhile longer. What if there are not enough votes for an extension, though? Or if the E.U., which has already granted a delay till April 12, refuses to play ball? (I for one hope for the latter, if only to imagine German Chancellor Angela Merkel triumphing once more in the autumnal twilight of her reign as the greatest Holy Roman Emperor since Frederick II.)
What would a no-deal Brexit actually look like? Who knows. It is to this unknown country that many Brexit hardliners wish to venture and never return. It is difficult to believe all the metropolitan liberal horror stories about food shortages and the end of air travel and mobs of St. George Cross-waving thugs roaming the streets burning cafés and gelaterias and stringing up anyone caught eating so much as a waffle. It is also difficult to believe that the whole thing will not be a logistical nightmare. Things that are meant to be impossible generally are.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.
-
Today's political cartoons - June 30, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - crybaby, alpha and omega, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 red-hot cartoons about the rising temperatures
Cartoons Artists take on personal experience, fridge logic, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Donald Sutherland: brilliant Canadian actor overlooked by the Oscars
In the Spotlight The actor was best known for performances in 'M*A*S*H', 'Don't Look Now' and 'The Hunger Games'
By The Week UK Published
-
Bolivia general arrested after coup attempt
Speed Read Gen. Juan José Zúñiga led what appeared to be a bid to unseat President Luis Arce
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Who will win France's election of extremes?
Today's Big Question Voters face a stark choice between far-right party and left-wing alliance as centrists lose ground
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Bolivia's battle to decriminalise coca leaf
Under the Radar WHO study boosts South American nation's desire to export cocaine ingredient
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Hong Kong launches 'smile offensive' to boost flagging tourism
Under The Radar Government minister blames 'black sheep' for territory's unfriendly reputation and calls on hospitality staff to go 'the extra mile'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Attacks on Russia: how will Putin react?
Talking Point Washington lifts ban on use of US weapons against some military targets inside Russia
By The Week Staff Published
-
Rafah strikes: has Israel crossed the West's red lines in Gaza?
Today's Big Question EU considers ways to compel Netanyahu to comply with ICJ ruling but US stops short of calling for a halt to offensive
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
How foreign policy could decide the election
The Explainer Labour more trusted on defence and could work better with Trump but voters are angry over both parties' stance on Israel
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Iran president dead in helicopter crash
Speed Read Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were found dead at the site
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published