Losing the will: Brexit

view on espresso.economist.com -- Dec 19th 2018 -- fan qiang

Losing the will: Brexit

• lose the will 失去意志

The referendum of 2016 gave Britain’s MPs a clear instruction: to leave the EU.

• referendum 全民公决；全民投票
• MP (Member of Parliament)议员

Although that vote carries no legal weight, it has taken on a moral force like little else.

• no legal weight 没有法律效力

Today’s paralysis is the result of Britain’s inability to reconcile its tradition of representative democracy with its more recent experiments in the direct sort.

• paralysis （活动、工作等）能力的完全丧失
• reconcile v. 调和；使和谐一致；使配合；使和解

Brexit is often likened to a divorce.

• likened v. 比作；弄得像…

In fact the two years since the referendum have been more like a rocky engagement.

• rocky 困难的；难以维持的

Voters were swept off their feet by the promises of the Leave campaign, only to discover that the future relationship was not going to be as they had imagined.

• sweep off one's feet 清除；一溜烟跑出来；被人迷惑住；推倒

Calling it off would be mortifying. Yet seeing it through could be a serious, permanent mistake.

• call off 〈口〉命令停止；丢手；取消(婚约)；〈美〉点(名)
• mortify 令人悔恨；令人悔恨的；痛心的

If the British are determined to plough on, that is their right.

• plough on 破浪前行

But now that they know what Brexit really means, they deserve the chance to say whether they still want it.

• deserve 值得；应得；应受

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一个人做错了事可以反悔，那一个国家可以吗？