I could have wished yesterday that more of our MPs knew when to follow this advice. For weeks I have been of the view that the really critical vote of MPs on Brexit was going to be over what kind of say they had on the deal when it was close to being finalised. I wanted the public and their Parliamentary representatives to see the reality of Brexit instead of the promises and then to be able to vote on whether we proceeded to exit the EU or not. It is called Parliamentary sovereignty. You know - that thing that so many right wing politicians were so keen on when they were lying through their teeth in an attempt to get us to dump all the rights ordinary people gained from being in the EU.
Instead of having the safeguard of a Parliamentary check our MPs have now signed up to a deal that looked too good to be true and was. They have won a vote on the final terms of the Brexit deal. Sounds great. But the vote is over whether you accept the deal the government has negotiated or wish to exit without any deal at all. That's right. Our MPs get a vote on whether to exit or whether to exit. They can say yes to some sort of flawed deal. Or they can yes to the worst possible outcome of leaving the EU with absolutely nothing agreed.
Put simply MPs have been conned. Ken Clarke saw through the deal in seconds. So did Caroline Lucas, the only Green MP we got for one million votes. The Labour Shadow Brexit Minister praised the con as a major concession and has been touring the media outlets to tell us how well he has been chipping away at the government's extremist Brexit plans.
It is like listening to some old bloke in a pub telling you that he has just invested his life savings in a sure fire money making scheme that he heard about on the internet. You just want to put your head in your hands and groan over the stupidity. If that really is the best that the Labour Party can do on this issue then I thank my lucky stars that I joined the Greens instead.