This week, MPs were due to vote on whether to endorse Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement. However, the vote was deferred in the face of fears that the deal would suffer a disastrous defeat and bring an end to Theresa May's tenure as Prime Minister. The decision may have bought Theresa May some time, but it has not quelled the mounting dissatisfaction over her deal and her leadership.
It is also a critical time for the Labour Party. Up until now Jeremy Corbyn’s team have played a careful balancing act – respecting the result of the referendum on the one hand, while making occasional gestures to those who want a second referendum on the other. But now it’s decision time: with the political calculus in parliament balanced on a knife-edge, the decisions taken by the Labour Party leadership over the coming weeks could have huge repercussions for the party, and for the country.
