As they look in the mirror today, MPs must ask themselves this question.
Will I fight to free Britain from the constitutional quagmire it has been stuck in for three long years?
Or will I put animosity and misplaced party loyalties first, and condemn my constituents to endless Brexit torture?
That is the choice for this first Saturday sitting in 37 years. Will it be progress – or further paralysis?
There’s no question what the public wants. Exhausted by years of deadlock, our poll shows they’ve had enough.
Stagnation has become the norm. Worse still, the opposition parties constantly whine that Mr Johnson (pictured) is not fit for office, yet don’t have the guts to call an election
Half of respondents believe MPs should approve the Brexit deal today, against just 38 per cent who don’t.
And significantly, if it fails, only 21 per cent believe it would be solely Boris Johnson’s fault – with twice that number blaming Parliament.
This augurs well for the Prime Minister in a future election – as does the five-point spike in the party’s overall poll lead.
But the wider truth is that Britain needs its democratic institutions to start working again. While the Commons has been bickering over Brexit, the things people really care about – the NHS, schools, law and order – are being neglected.
Stagnation has become the norm. Worse still, the opposition parties constantly whine that Mr Johnson is not fit for office, yet don’t have the guts to call an election.
So will our zombie Parliament redeem itself by passing this deal?
Sadly, the DUP won’t support it because of issues over the new customs arrangements and consent. (This, despite the fact that Lord Trimble, that giant of Ulster Unionism, is fully behind it).
Without them, the Prime Minister must win over three other groups to prevail – his own ERG hardliners, the 21 MPs he expelled from the party last month for voting against him and around 20 Labour MPs who represent Leave-voting constituencies.
There’s no doubt this latter group has a dilemma.
On one hand are their constituents, who want Brexit done. On the other is their party leadership who apparently don’t.
We say apparently, because they change their mind so often that it’s hard to tell.
They say this deal is a ruse; that Mr Johnson is a Right-wing extremist, bent on using it to dilute workers’ rights.
It’s utter rot, of course. Boris is the very model of a liberal One-Nation Tory, as his time as London mayor proved.
But today’s Labour is not interested in the truth – only in trashing any proposal the Government suggests.
An amendment from Sir Oliver Letwin (pictured) and supported by Labour would withhold Commons approval of the deal until all legislation required to enact it was completed
Defying the party whip is never easy. But we hope the Labour dissenters will refuse to be bullied, act on their conscience and back this deal.
They – and the Tory 21 – must also disregard the siren voices of those who, even at this late stage, want to inflict yet more delay on the long-suffering public.
An amendment from Sir Oliver Letwin and supported by Labour would withhold Commons approval of the deal until all legislation required to enact it was completed.
While not a killer blow, under the Benn Act, this would almost certainly force the Prime Minister to request a further extension of Article 50. Really, haven’t we had enough extensions already?
Meanwhile, there’s also talk of a Liberal Democrat plot for a second referendum – a divisive exercise which would solve nothing. It would just create more delay. Delay, delay, delay.
It’s no exaggeration to say MPs hold this country’s future prosperity and wellbeing in their hands today.
We appeal to them to stop dithering and get the deal done. For all our sakes, end this agonising limbo and let the country finally move forward.
Enough procrastination. The time is now!