Thread by @EvanHD

Quick thread on UK politics.
Help me out here. Parliament clearly doesn't want a cliff-edge Brexit, but Brussels may make that the only choice, other than a very soft Brexit (which the EU thinks is the only solution to the Irish border issue). 1/9

But what happens if parliament votes to yield to the EU, and soften Brexit; and then refuses to boot the government out in a confidence motion? Every outcome seems implausible. 2/9

First and easiest solution: Theresa May stays on and negotiates Brexit on parliament's terms. But it seems really difficult for that to happen. It would be like David Cameron staying on to deliver Brexit in 2016. 3/9

Second outcome: Tories have a new leader.. a Brexiteer. Many in the party would like that, but can you imagine Michael Gove say, delivering Britain into a Customs Union? 4/9

Third outcome: Tories appoint a soft Brexiter as PM. Seems just possible, but could such a leader possibly gain support of their own backbenches, at a time when the party is apoplectic with rage at the soft Brexiters? 5/9

Fourth outcome: There is a general election. Could happen, but I fail to see how two-thirds of this Commons would support that (as needed under the Fixed Term Parliament Act) knowing that many would lose their seat, and that Jeremy Corbyn would very possibly become PM. 6/9

Is it just possible we would arrive at a soft Brexit national government? Labour, LDs, SNP etc plus soft-Brexit Tories stand behind a caretaker soft Brexit PM (Amber Rudd?) to negotiate Brexit and then to agree an election? 7/9

Is there some other option that I'm missing? 8/9

The fundamental problem is that majority opinion in the current Commons is arguably paralysing: a) it perhaps supports soft Brexit b) opposes an early election and c) doesn't support an alternative to a Tory PM. While in addition d) the plausible Tory PMs are for hard Brexit. 9/9