The European Union is “best prepared” for Britain to backtrack and abandon Brexit, EU President Donald Tusk says.

Matt Kelly writes:

As Theresa May announced her Cabinet’s collective approval of the withdrawal deal she negotiated with Brussels, she listed three options: her deal, no deal and no Brexit.

It was the first time she acknowledged that not doing Brexit at all is even a possibility. And she couldn’t avoid it, since no Brexit is today — on form at least — the favorite among the choices she offered.

Now I’m not one to promote gambling, but in the three-horse race that is Brexit, anyone fleet of foot enough to get down to the bookies today can still get double-your-money 2-to-1 odds on another referendum at any time in 2019.

Even more astonishing, you can get 5-to-1 odds on a referendum next year resulting in a Remain vote. This is ridiculously good value.

Granted, you’d need to act quickly as the potential payoff is shrinking by the day.

May’s deal is being slowly euthanized. If her own survival is unlikely, the death of her deal is guaranteed. There is nothing like a majority for it in parliament, as became clear Thursday when Brexiteer MP Jacob Rees-Mogg — like many, many others on the Conservative benches — stuck his knife in and wandered out of a three-hour session in Parliament to submit his letter of no confidence in May’s leadership.

That leaves us two runners: no deal and no Brexit. [Continue reading…]