Did you call me nebulous? The end of year festive cheer was in full swing as politicians exchanged pleasantries.Many pondered whether the leader of opposition called Theresa May a 'stupid woman' and Jean-Claude Juncker may have had equally kind words for our PM.
It was rather a turbulent week in British politics - a vote of no confidence in Theresa May led by Tories, followed by a motion of no confidence in her tabled by the Labour Leader.
With 80 days until we leave the European Union and little support for the Prime Minister's deal, the Cabinet has started to prepare for a managed exit without a deal. As expected, Remainers in the Tory Party refuse to rule out an undemocratic second referendum and threaten to derail Theresa May's premiership if she makes'managed no deal' into government policy.
Indeed, Theresa May was called names but one adjective would be good: abstruse, and confusing for both leavers and remainers in her party. Despite attacks, she presses on, desperate to ensure that her withdrawal agreement succeeds in the Commons, thus confounding everyone.
No deal it is, or is it?
Preparations for a managed no deal have been heralded by all in the Brexit world as the most desirable option to ensure we retain our sovereignty and over a hundred Tory MPs selected the no confidence in the PM option - a lot more than Tory Europhiles expected.Therefore, she cannot ignore them any longer and must 'team-up' to ensure she regains some sort of power. This would explain why Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the European Research Group, was invited to Downing Street – to organize some sort of truce.
These developments were always going to upset the Europhiles in the party, like Anna Soubrywho threatened to quit the whip or tabled motions to prevent a no deal and ensure we retain as close a relationship as we could with the derelict European Union.
To complicate matters further, Tory Remainers were relying on the leader of the opposition to obtain a second referendum or even a full blown General Election! They have been disappointed in Corbyn's restraint in launching a no confidence motion in the government. Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, tried to force the Labour leader's hands; Yvette Cooper joined forces with Nicky Morgan and Nicholas Soames to prevent the government from embarking on a full Brexit. They are even trying to prevent the government from lowering taxes – a move that would increase investment into the country; so one may be baffled as to their reasons.
It is not far-fetched to state that these ideological Europhiles who plot on behalf of the EU no longer have the best interest of our country at heart and are threatening to kill our democratic system in the process.
Deal it is then?
By ruling out a second referendum and the revocation of Article 50, MPs are left with two choices: leave with May's deal or another - managed - no deal.
Since most parliamentarians having voted Remain, the cheery prospect of leaving on World Trade Organisation terms has sent a chill down their spine. It is there where Theresa May intends to strike.
By raising tensions between the two factions of her party, she hopes she will have enough people to support her Withdrawal Agreement and she is trying to win over the Democratic Unionist Party positing that if they back it so will a few recalcitrant MPs. She is fighting this battle on a few fronts and it does not matter how close the vote is as long as she gets it through Parliament.
The game is not over
Several Tory MPs backed Theresa May for fear of the alternatives or simply because they believed in her presumed heartfelt plea to remain until she sees Brexit through but we would be in a worse position should this deal go through - bearing in mind that most of it was drafted by technocrats in the European Union.
It is astonishing to see how MPs seem so easily swayed by someone who has been so profoundly deceptive. They seem unaware that the fight for Brexit will continue since Theresa May will try everything in her power to ensure her deal goes through – which would mean the end of the United Kingdom as we know it and the end of the Tory party.
The following weeks will be interesting, full of smoke and mirrors and confusion.We must not let our guard down and we must keep the pressure on our elected representatives to ensure Brexit does take place.
There is nothing to fear from 'no deal' but what is to be feared is if we remain stuck in the European Union and we should be particularly wary when ministers of other countries start meddling in our domestic affairs: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-france-idUSKCN1OJ0KI especially when their domestic affairs are in such dire straits.
So, let's fasten our seatbelts as the strategy of chaos unveils.