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"To ask the question all over again would be a gross betrayal of our democracy and a betrayal of that trust," said Theresa May when asked if there should be a second Brexit referendum.

Read that quote once more. It's not a 'no', is it?

It's a refusal to ask the same question twice, which would as many have said make it a neverendum we kept holding until getting the 'right' answer to keep the Illuminati happy.

And the reason for the wriggle room Theresa carefully left in her statement is that, increasingly, she is the last person in the country to insist that Brexit is all going swimmingly.

If you are one of the 17,410,742 people who voted to Leave it is now clear we'll have to Remain or sell Northern Ireland. If you are among the 16,141,241 who voted to Remain it is obvious the best we can hope for is a twinning agreement with disaster.

And if you're one of the 12,922,659 who could vote but didn't, well done for washing your hands of it. Because it's a right cocking mess.

(Image: PA)

It turns out that everybody apart from the 1.8m people who live there forgot about Northern Ireland.

And we likewise forgot that those people, in a referendum, had already voted not to have a hard border with the Republic of Ireland next door. They're happy with a hedge, but not barbed wire.

This makes it particularly tricky to "take back control" of our borders, leave a customs union, check immigrants or set our own trade rules. We can do what we like at Dover, but not at Belfast.

So, there goes sovereignty. And the only way to honour a democratic decision to leave the EU is to ignore the democratic decision of 1.8m British citizens to remain in the UK.

(Image: PA)

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Coupled with this insoluble cube de Rubik is the fact that anyone tasked with sorting it out would need the conceptual mental capacity of Stephen Hawking, the zen-like calm of Mahatma Gandhi and the firmly-rooted principles of Nelson Mandela.

We gave the job to Theresa May. Twice.

She co-opted the Disgraced Liam Fox, David 'I'm in the SAS, me!' Davis, whatever bits of Boris Johnson weren't betraying someone and a Michael Gove fleshsuit.

You don't have to be a psychic octopus to have spotted a cock-up coming. It was like giving the Large Hadron Collider to a gerbil.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

A referendum aimed at settling the question has merely shown an answer to be more impossible. The only parties united on the topic of Brexit are the Lib Dems who are as electable as Tony Blair with a bad case of scrofula, and UKIP which has spent years pretending it's not racist only to choose a leader who's friends with Tommy Robinson and wants to legalise hate crime.

Project Fear has become Project Oh Dear, as the trade deals we were promised have not materalised, the fishing rights that were boasted of cause scallop wars, police confirm European arrest warrants will be void and even the headbangers on the backbenches are talking about building a Death Star to shelter in.

Nigel and Boris, who once cheerily declared what a wonderful world a post-Brexit Britain would be, are now backing away, admitting it's a disaster and pointing the finger at someone, anyone else.

In particular, at Theresa.

(Image: Jack Taylor)

It's her fault because she voted Remain. It's her fault because she's too cautious. It's her fault the EU won't agree.

Theresa had no option but to suggest we all just imagine there's a hard border, without actually imposing one. Now the wingnuts have woken up to the fact belief won't solve a migration crisis, and the sane majority have noticed the government is relying on magic to make the world a better place, it's hardly a wonder that half the popluation wants a second vote.

And it is increasingly obvious they're going to get one, for three reasons.

1. This is the first time in British democratic history that the manifesto turned up 2 years after the vote

2. The best offer we've made is one that all of the EU, most of the Tory party and a good part of the country can't accept

3. Politicians never take the blame

(Image: REUTERS)

It's also more than likely that, whatever deal we do or don't agree with the EU, when individual parliaments are asked to ratify it there'll be quibbling across Europe and even in Westminster. The two year Article 50 deadline has damaged the economy already, and further delays and uncertainty will only make it worse.

The only choice available is whether to fudge a deal in people's best economic interests - a deal which would never unify the Tories, probably not get through Parliament, and most likely mean Remain in all but name while paying more than we do now - or throw it back to the people who got us into this mess in the first place.

If there's one thing politicians don't like, it's blame. So they'll ask the electorate not the same question about whether to Leave or Remain, but whether to Leave with no deal or a bad deal. They won't want to add a Remain option for fear of losing a clear mandate, but they might and there also might be a move to spoil ballots in such numbers that Remain is the clear result.

The Tories can't agree with themselves, the EU can't agree with Theresa, and the only thing any of them can agree on is that the people have the inalienable right to decide.

It's just a matter of time until everyone accepts it. And that's why Theresa left herself room to wriggle.