Hold on, hold on, let me get this straight: because they lost a referendum they never expected to lose, and knew the catastrophic consequences if they did, the tories needed to do a deal with the European Union which wouldn’t screw the country while still technically leaving the EU. They knew full well what damage leaving the union would do to the country, but didn’t want their credibility to be torn to shreds by ignoring a referendum result they never planned on. Then, when they ask parliament to vote on the deal those in favour of leaving didn’t vote for it because it wouldn’t lead to a clean enough break, and those opposed to leaving couldn’t vote for it because any kind of brexit is total folly. Would someone please tell me how the hell and at precisely what point things got so utterly, utterly ridiculous?