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The pro-Remain majority in the Commons is 454 to 147. If Labour, scenting blood, could force a last-minute defeat onto the government along the lines of Ed Miliband's sudden about-turn on Syria, that would be devastating. Like Miliband, they could couch it in subtle procedural arguments rather than sticking a simple two-fingers up. Already this has been Corbyn's strategy – endlessly nagging Theresa for a "blueprint", then trying to pull it apart in a death by a thousand cuts.At least after Cameron resigned there was a plan-about-how-to-get-a-plan. This time around, The Courts, The Government, Parliament and The People would all be at loggerheads. The will of The People would be to Leave. Of Parliament to Remain. Of The Government to Leave. And of The Courts to side with whatever Parliament said. Who wins? Who knows?But that's only the threat, mainly hypothetical. What MPs want – and what they now hold some cards of getting – isn't to reverse the decision entirely, but to have influence over its direction. They could agree to vote the government's way in triggering Article 50 in exchange for a deal over the terms: that we remain members of the EEA (and thereby abide by free movement), that we stay inside a customs union, anything.The distinction being made is that the public has voted on the need for Brexit. But Parliament – as their representatives – gets to decide the kind of Brexit. This could effectively make any negotiations an intensely unwieldy three-way shuffle, where the PM goes to Brussels with certain things she is allowed to ask for, and then Europeans tell her she can't have any of them, and then Parliament has to re-approve fresh demands.READ: The Vote on Article 50 Gives Labour a Chance to Make Brexit Less Terrible
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