After all the endless months of bickering, braggadocio and blatant attention-seeking, the day of destiny for British democracy has finally arrived.
Today, the Commons votes on Theresa May’s plan to secure an orderly withdrawal from the EU.
In the Mail’s view, the choice before MPs is simple: accept a deal which delivers the main planks of Brexit — and provides the stability the nation yearns for. Or lead us into a dark and hazardous unknown.
So to honourable members of all stripes, we make this plea. Before entering the division lobby at such a pivotal moment in our constitutional history, put personal prejudice aside and think very hard about where the overriding national interest lies.
This country stands on the edge of a precipice — social as well as economic. MPs have the power today to pull us back from the brink — or push us over.
Theresa May (pictured speaking in the House of Commons yesterday) has warned Tory Eurosceptics that rejecting her deal could mean no Brexit at all
The stakes could hardly be higher. If they fail now, public trust in our political class may be shattered beyond redemption. It is already at a dangerously low ebb.
For more than two years, the Brexit debate has sucked every ounce of political energy from both Westminster and Whitehall, leaving domestic policy in a state of suspended animation. Violent crime spirals, we have a looming energy gap, the railways are manifestly failing, fast broadband roll-out has stalled and the prison system has descended into squalor and chaos.
There is still no resolution in sight to the acute elderly care crisis, and the NHS — despite a huge new injection of cash — remains in desperate need of reform and renewal.
Yet vital as these issues are to the well-being of our society, they have been neglected as MPs have obsessed over Brexit, and Brexit alone.
And with no viable alternative on offer, if Theresa May’s deal is rejected this appalling policy vacuum will go on, with Parliament plunged into even greater paralysis than now.
Doesn’t the British public deserve better from those they pay to govern? Tired of the constant squabbling, they long for a return to stability so they can get on with their lives.
In every recent poll, a majority of Tory voters have backed Mrs May’s deal, and support among other parties also appears to be on the rise. Unlike our stubborn Parliamentarians, ordinary voters see the virtue of compromise and common sense.
The polls also show how much the public admire the Prime Minister’s resolve and tenacity, as she has worked tirelessly to achieve an agreement which — while far from ideal — would deliver Brexit without the economic chaos that crashing out with no deal would bring. And be under no illusion, economic chaos there would be. No deal is the outcome British business fears most of all.
Although our employment, inflation and growth figures have been among the best in Europe since the 2008 crash, business leaders believe leaving the EU with no agreement on trade and borders would bring that recovery shuddering to a halt.
Investment has already dried up in anticipation of problems, and a disorderly exit could prompt a hugely damaging flight of capital and jobs.
Yet despite the dire warnings, all the predictions are that Mrs May’s deal will be heavily defeated today, as purists on both sides of the argument put perfection before pragmatism.
On one hand, the hard Brexiteers want a clean break, with little or no transition period and no £39 billion divorce payment. This would inevitably lead to hard borders and damaging WTO tariffs on British goods and services being sold to the EU.
On the other, committed Remainers want the closest possible relationship with Brussels. Indeed, some would like to overturn the referendum result completely — which Mrs May rightly said yesterday would be ‘a perversion of democracy’.
But instead of constantly carping about the flaws in Mrs May’s deal, perhaps her critics should take a close look at what it does offer.
Theresa May (pictured in Stoke-on-Trent on Monday) has made last-ditch efforts to persuade Conservative rebels to back her but MPs are expected to vote her deal down
On March 29, the UK would leave the European Union, as requested by an overwhelming Commons majority when it voted to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
To avoid any economic cliff-edge, there would be a bedding-in period of at least 21 months. During that time, we would remain in the customs union and single market while preparations were made for new trading relationships to be introduced.
At the end of the process, we would be back in charge of our own immigration policy, would no longer be subservient to EU law and would stop having to pay vast annual subscriptions to Brussels.
In other words, we would regain control of our borders, laws and money. Wasn’t that what Brexit was supposed to be about?
None of the other suggested options comes close to matching the benefits (quite apart from the fact that none of them could command a Commons majority).
The so-called Norway option concedes freedom of movement and the primacy of EU law. Permanent membership of the customs union would also leave us in thrall to the European Court and with even less control over our own trade policy than we have now. The perils of no deal need no further explanation.
Then there’s the so-called ‘People’s Vote’, promoted almost exclusively by those who want to stay in the EU. But we’ve already had a people’s vote and Remain lost. What legitimacy could a second referendum have? What would be the question? Should there be more than one option?
In any case, it would probably be another close vote — proving that the country is as divided as ever, but solving nothing.
True, there is still the vexed question of the backstop. Under Mrs May’s deal, if, at the end of the implementation period, a trading agreement has not been finalised, Northern Ireland could effectively remain in the single market after the rest of the country leaves.
Naturally, the DUP (on whose support the Government relies for its majority), opposes any measure which treats the Province differently from the rest of the UK. This is why Mrs May secured further written guarantees from Brussels yesterday that the backstop is a last resort and, if entered into, would be temporary.
Meanwhile, there were other glimmers of hope for Mrs May yesterday. Several committed Tory Eurosceptics said they would support the deal rather than risk no Brexit. Tory Remainers including Nick Boles, Oliver Letwin and Nicky Morgan (who only two days ago were alleged to be plotting a coup) said they would support it in the first instance rather than risk no deal.
Supporters and opponents of Brexit gather outside the House of Commons on Tuesday ahead of the historic vote on Mrs May’s withdrawal deal
Even some Labour MPs, despairing of their leader’s utter cluelessness, conceded it was the best (indeed the only) deal on offer.
But almost everyone involved in this unedifying saga has had a vested interest in taking it to the brink, and to hell with what’s really best for Britain.
The ‘People’s Vote’ brigade hope that if we get to March 29 with no deal, they may achieve their second referendum. Some Tory Remainers hope that if Mrs May’s deal goes down, Parliament may be able to take over the Brexit process and dilute it until it’s virtually meaningless.
And those hardest of hard Brexiteers, the European Research Group, believe that if this deal is killed off, Britain will eventually leave without a deal by default.
It’s almost as if they are treating this country’s destiny as some sort of parlour game. It’s not. Their actions today will affect real people, with real families and real jobs, and that should be at the forefront of their minds.
If this agreement does fall, the ERG must understand that the most likely scenario is no Brexit at all — or one so weak that it would leave us in a far worse position than we are in now.
Is that really a risk they are prepared to take?
For the sake of their party — which risks being torn apart by this visceral feuding — and their country, they should take another hard look at the deal, put their pride behind them and reflect on its merits. A compromise Brexit is surely better than no Brexit.
As Mrs May said yesterday: ‘When the history books are written, people will look at the decision of this House and ask: “Did we deliver on the country’s vote to leave the EU — or did we let the British people down?” ‘
The Mail wholeheartedly agrees. And to all MPs on this momentous day we make this passionate and heartfelt call: Put your country first.