Also striking in the debates is lack of recognition that the European Union, which has a major say in how Britain is released from complex legal and economic bonds formed over more than four decades, must agree to any deal. The bloc has steadfastly insisted that the agreement reached with Mrs. May’s government, and rejected by the British Parliament, is not open to substantive change.

European leaders have become increasingly unbuttoned in their frustrations with the British, most notably Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, who openly mused at a news conference, “I’ve been wondering what that special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely.” Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, was equally blunt in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País when he warned Britain that outside the European Union, it would be “a middling economy stuck in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Mrs. May’s next confrontation with Parliament is set for the end of the month , when she must report on what progress she has made with the European Union, which is likely to be none. Following that, the Parliament may vote to take the management of the Brexit process away from her. Mrs. May’s last move may be to wait until the last minute and confront the Parliament with a choice between her negotiated deal and a long extension of the Brexit deadline. That, at least, is what her chief Brexit negotiator, Olly Robbins, was overheard telling colleagues in a Brussels bar.

The way the process has been going, counting on a reasonable vote at the last minute is seriously tempting disaster. There are several sites already displaying a countdown to Brexit, and their message seems to be that the 11th hour has struck, and getting an extension now might not be the worst idea.

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