Jacob Rees-Mogg sums up the incredibly difficult dilemma facing Brexiteers – if no deal is no longer an option, then is May’s deal better than no Brexit at all? Rees-Mogg told LBC:

“The deal is still a very bad deal, it doesn’t deliver on the promises of the Conservative Party manifesto and it doesn’t deliver on the referendum result in full. The question people like me will ultimately have to answer is, can we get to no deal instead? … I’m concerned that the Prime Minister in spite of her previous commitments is determined to stop no deal…

“No deal is better than a bad deal but a bad deal is better than Remaining in the European Union.”

He’s not wrong…

UPDATE: Rees-Mogg’s response to a caller saying that May’s deal is worse than Remain sets out the Brexiteer’s dilemma even more clearly. If the UK does not Leave now the political establishment will never allow Brexiteers to even have a sniff of the exit door in the future. The idea that we will get a better deal after a two-year delay is fantasy, Remainers will be fully in control of the process by then…

Remainers have successfully moved the debate entirely onto the economic relationship since the referendum – many Brexiteers seem to have forgotten that their key objective before the referendum was getting out of the political structures of the EU. Those who are saying they would rather Remain now need to think very carefully about their priorities…