What a Mess, Britain

The United Kingdom and the United States have long had a special relationship, so it only makes sense that our governments are both special shitshows at the moment.

Stephen Castle and Richard Pérez-Peña at the New York Times: Theresa May Survives Confidence Vote in British Parliament.

Prime Minister Theresa May narrowly survived a vote of no-confidence in Parliament on Wednesday, but the result did little to quell the turmoil gripping the British government over her plan for leaving the European Union, coming a day after she suffered a historic defeat on the blueprint.

The House of Commons voted 325 to 306 to reject an opposition motion of no confidence. If successful, it almost certainly would have ousted her from power and probably would have forced a general election, adding still more layers of uncertainty in a country fast approaching the March 29 date for leaving the bloc — yet unable to agree on how to do so.

On Tuesday, Parliament dealt Mrs. May a crushing defeat, voting 432 to 202 to reject her painstakingly negotiated agreement with Brussels for leaving the European Union, or Brexit — by far the biggest losing margin for a government on a major issue in modern times.

Yet, a day later, more than 100 lawmakers from Mrs. May's own Conservative Party who had opposed her Brexit bill voted to support her government, as did legislators from the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland who also hate Mrs. May's plan.

The head-snapping sequence of events leaves Mrs. May — the leader of an intractably divided party, with a split cabinet, no parliamentary majority and no clear path forward on Brexit — more politically wounded than ever, yet somehow still standing.

Ordinarily, a prime minister would be expected to resign after suffering a big defeat on a signature bill, but Brexit has rewritten the rules of British politics. And once again, Mrs. May, who has defied many predictions of her political demise, lived to fight another day.

It isn't clear to me whether May even wants to live to fight another day, nor why she would want to if she does. Because the fight is unwinnable. Her party expects her to deliver something she fundamentally cannot deliver.

Honestly, her best bet at this point is to build a time machine and go back and stuff Nigel Farage in a cupboard.

Which is probably almost exactly as likely to happen as May finding a way out of this mess that doesn't actually cause an even bigger mess.