Boris Johnson's Brexit was facilitated by an opposition of fools and cynics – Brian Wilson

Two years ago, I asked here a crucial question: what if Theresa May and Jean Claude Juncker are telling the truth – and it really is a choice between their deal and no deal?
The politicians who voted down Theresa May's Brexit deal, forcing her to quit, paved the way for Boris Johnson to become Prime Minister and lead the UK out of the EU his way (Picture: Alastair Grant/AP)The politicians who voted down Theresa May's Brexit deal, forcing her to quit, paved the way for Boris Johnson to become Prime Minister and lead the UK out of the EU his way (Picture: Alastair Grant/AP)
The politicians who voted down Theresa May's Brexit deal, forcing her to quit, paved the way for Boris Johnson to become Prime Minister and lead the UK out of the EU his way (Picture: Alastair Grant/AP)

I now feel entitled to recall that everything which has transpired since flows from failure to face up to that question and the deceptions on which that refusal was based.

Regardless of the outcome now, I challenge anyone to point out how it will be an improvement on what was on offer then. In many respects, it is likely to be much, much worse.

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Three key elements doomed what was sneered at as “Theresa May’s deal”. There were conceited Tories who thought they could use the law to out-manoeuvre Parliament but repeatedly ended up in blind alleys.

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Most Labour MPs, led by an ass, pandered to the delusion that by blowing hard enough, the Brexit walls would fall down and a second referendum magically appear. Instead, they gave us Johnson and crushing electoral defeat.

Third, the SNP at least knew what it was doing. Use the façade of anti-Brexit rhetoric to vote against everything, thereby opening the door to Johnson and chaos. The implications for Scotland were the least of their concerns.

There will be few heroes when this story is written but I nominate the small group of Labour MPs who voted for Mrs May’s deal and pro-EU Tories like Ken Clarke who saw what was happening, dismissed delusions about reversing Brexit and backed the least-worst option.

Now the worst option is arriving, let’s not forget how the “opposition” of fools, cynics and the terminally naïve played its indispensable part.

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