On the 29 March 2019,
when the clock strikes 11,
Britain will officially leave 
the European Union.
It will be a historic moment.
No country has ever left the EU before.
The mess caused by Brexit
is the biggest problem
in the history of EU/UK relations.
What is that supposed
to mean?
Money!
Even asking this question
is controversial.
I can see you heading for the 
comment section
but hold on.
52% for leave, 48% for remain.
Although the referendum in 2016
was close,
more British people voted for Brexit than
have voted for anything else ever.
But it was also the first time in British history
that voters chose something
that did not have a majority support 
in parliament.
Now there's a growing campaign focused 
on keeping Britain in the EU
by any means necessary.
The referendum result, if I'll compare it
to a football match,
there was a dodgy referee, the opposition 
had one extra player
and the goal was scored
in the 96th minute.
It was based on lies.
Britain may have triggered article 50
and begun the exit process under EU law,
but overturning Brexit is still
theoretically possible.
Our article 50 letter 
could be withdrawn without cost or difficulty,
legal or political.
The EU, for all its technical, legal language, 
is a deeply political organisation.
It's going well,
it's very very well organised.
If both sides, Britain and the EU,
agreed to stop Brexit,
they would find a way to do it.
That is a very big if.
So let's look at the options.
It boils down to three main scenarios.
First up, the politicians stop Brexit
by themselves.
It's important to remember that
parliament by itself
has the legal authority
to overturn the referendum.
The referendum was advisory.
For Brexit to take effect,
a majority of members
of parliament have to allow it through.
If enough MPs decided to
cancel Brexit,
in theory at least they could do so
but it would mean parliament
overturning the result of a democratic referendum.
It would almost certainly
provoke a massive backlash.
I fear that the great Brexit
betrayal has begun.
But politicians overturning referendums 
isn't unheard of in Europe.
As recently as 2015,
Greek voters said no to an EU bailout
that came with major 
austerity clauses.
In the end though Greek MPs
ignored their voters
and overturned the referendum result 
to keep Greece in the eurozone.
Parliament is sovereign,
if the MPs so chose,
they could just vote to
annul the referendum
and to remain in
the European Union.
That of course isn't going to happen,
I don't think,
because it's a very bad look.
What easy way?
No matter what I do,
somebody gets hurt.
So what about something a little
easier to imagine?
You're joking.
You've probably heard 
a lot of talk about a possible second referendum
and the EU has a rich history
of rerunning referendums.
… just thrown a massive spanner
into the mechanism that decides
how the European Union will be run.
Ireland voted to reject the EU's
Lisbon treaty in 2008.
Irish voters were then asked to vote
again in the face of an economic crisis.
Is this some kind of a deja vu?
The second time around,
they voted the opposite way.
Five hundred
and ninety-four thousand,
six hundred and six.
A second referendum is still
pretty unlikely.
Parliament would have to agree
to it for a start
and so it would come
down to those MPs again
and time is running out fast.
There's also the question of
what a second referendum would ask.
Leave v remain again?
Or a three-way choice
between a deal, no deal
and no Brexit.
With the proviso that the EU will have
a lot to say about what it wants,
The Conservatives in government,
and Labour in opposition,
are committed to carrying
out Brexit
and for now they're both
against holding a new referendum.
We're not asking for a second referendum.
But politicians are highly attuned to the
public mood.
If enough of them detected
a clear majority calling
for a new referendum, 
the idea might just gain momentum.
With parliament split on the
best way to deliver Brexit,
a new referendum could help break the deadlock
and even reverse the original result,
Finally, there's the scenario that most
worries Brexiteers.
Bino.
No, not the Beano.
Although Jacob Rees-Mogg has been
compared to Walter the Softy.
This is the theory that Brexit will be
delayed or watered down so much
that what Britain ends up with
is barely any different to what came before.
Could the prime minister inform the house
at what point it was decided
that Brexit means remain.
So, no independent trade deals, no
restrictions on immigration,
no real reduction in the amount Britain 
pays into the EU.
The prime minister has promised this 
won't happen over and over again.
But as Brexit Day approaches, Britain's
new relationship with the EU seems
as undecided as ever.
Brexit might not be
possible to stop, but one thing is certain:
the EU will continue to loom
large over British politics.
Thanks for watching!
Leave your comments below
and subscribe if you want to watch
more in this series.
