Shropshire Star comment: PM is left fighting for UK’s fate

The more inept the Government’s handling of Brexit has become, the more fuel to the fire of those calling for a second referendum.

What once seemed like a pipe dream for a relatively small band of protestors and has-been former politicians, has now become a very real prospect.

While the Prime Minister has been spectacularly failing to gain acceptance for her Brexit deal, she has effectively left the door open for those who have wanted to stay in the EU from the start.

In June 2016, 17.4 million people voted to leave the bloc.

There was always likely to be disappointment among those on the losing side of the argument, but the public made its decision.

Make absolutely no mistake, any attempt to go back on that decision – particularly before it has even been acted upon – would be met with a furious response from many people in this country.

The fact that it has come to this shows just how appalling the Government’s handling of Brexit has been over the last two years.

Ministers have failed miserably to put together a proper Brexit plan, but those who see a new public vote on the issue as a solution to the problem are, perhaps, mistaken.

What happens if Leave wins again – a distinct possibility given that anti-EU feeling has strengthened among many people as the negotiations have dragged on? Or if Remain wins, do we have another vote and make it the best of three?

With the current divisions in the House of Commons, it is hard to imagine MPs even agreeing on what the question would be.

Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Mrs May was adamant there will be no second referendum. But this is the same Prime Minister who said there would be a meaningful vote on her deal at the start of the month, then cancelled it.

And the same Prime Minister who said her deal was the only one available, before traipsing back to Brussels to try and renegotiate it.

Mrs May is facing the most important – and difficult – political situation for many years. How she handles it will determine her fate and the fate of this country.