Brexit after May 梅姨后的脱欧之路
The Silly Isles 愚蠢的孤岛
isle: 岛，小岛;
The prime minister’s promise to resign does nothing to solve Britain’s Brexit mess
首相的辞职承诺丝毫不能解决英国混乱的脱欧状况
Theresa may was supposed to be leading Britain out of the European Union this week. Instead, Britain stayed put and the prime minister found herself announcing her own departure. After weathering months of criticism over her handling of the Brexit negotiations, in which Britain was last week forced to ask for an extension of the March 29th deadline, Mrs May surrendered to calls for her to say that she would quit. She promised her Conservative MPs she would step down if Britain formally left the EU, handing the next, crucial phase of negotiations, on Britain’s future relationship with the continent, to her successor.
stay put: 呆在原地；留在原来的位置
find oneself doing: 突然发现自己不知不觉在做某事
weather: 平安度过（困境）；经受住；侵蚀，风化
特蕾莎·梅本应在本周带领英国离开欧盟。取而代之的是，英国还停留在原地，而首相突然发现她在宣布自己退出的消息。在经受住了几个月外界对她处理脱欧谈判的批评后，梅向那些呼吁声音投降，表示自己将会辞职。在她处理的谈判中，英国被迫请求在3月29日的期限到期后延期。梅向她的保守党议员承诺，如果英国正式脱欧，她将下台并，将下一阶段关于英国和欧洲大陆未来关系的关键性谈判留给她的继任者。
长句：After weathering months of criticism over her handling of the Brexit negotiations (, in which Britain was last week forced to ask for an extension of the March 29th deadline,) Mrs May surrendered to calls for her to say that she would quit. After后是weather现在分词做状语，主干是Mrs May surrendered (to calls for her) to say after she weathered...。
She promised her Conservative MPs she would step down if Britain formally left the EU, handing the next, crucial phase of negotiations, on Britain’s future relationship with the continent, to her successor. 主干是She promised sb that ...。That后的句子主干为：she would step down if sth, handing ... to ...。handing是现在分词做主动状语，还原后是she will hands the next, crucial phase of negotiations to her successor.中间 on Britain’s future relationship with the continent表明negotiations的内容。
After weeks of chaos, the past few days’ developments might make it look as if Britain is at last feeling its way towards a solution to its crisis. Mrs May’s supreme sacrifice is designed to persuade her rebellious Tory MPs to vote for her unpopular Brexit deal. More promisingly, Parliament is working on a backup plan of its own, beginning this week with a series of votes designed to winkle out what kind of Brexit deal could command a majority if Mrs May’s fails (see Britain section).
winkle out: 挑出(探听到)
command a majority: 占多数
经历数周的混乱后，过去几天谈判发生了一些进展，这可能看起来让英国终于找到一个解决危机的方法。梅做出了重大的牺牲，来说服反对她的保守党议员为她不受欢迎的脱欧协议投赞成票。更令人充满希望的是，议会正致力于准备自己的备用方案，首先开始的是本周他们举行了一系列投票，来打探如果梅的方案失败，何种脱欧协议能占到多数支持。
Yet in reality the prime minister’s promised departure does nothing to resolve the disagreements that are preventing Britain from settling on an exit deal. It may even exacerbate them.
exacerbate: 激怒; 使恶化; 使加重;
然而实际上，对于那些妨碍英国就退出协议达成一致的分歧，总理的辞职承诺毫无用处，甚至可能会加剧分歧。
Mrs May’s announcement came after weeks of arm-twisting. A prime minister who two years ago looked almost invincible has been slowly bled dry of authority, starting with her calamitous loss of the Tories’ majority in 2017 in an election which they had been fancied to win with a landslide (see Bagehot). Her unpopular Brexit deal has twice been defeated in Parliament by record and near-record margins. She has no domestic achievements to speak of. And she is barely in control of her cabinet, let alone her party. Mrs May was dealt a bad hand in Brexit; she has played it extraordinarily badly.
arm-twisting：施压；strong-arm暴力手段
invincible：无敌的; 不可战胜的，不能征服的; 无攻不克; 无前。注意不是invisible
bleed：把…抽干，放掉…中的空气（或液体）
calamitous：多灾多难; 灾难的，悲惨的; 惨重;
fancy：想像; 设想; 想要; 猜想;
landslide:（选举中）一方选票占压倒性多数，大胜
deal a hand：扑克牌发牌；be dealt a bad hand：拿到坏牌
梅的声明发表于数周的互相施压之后。两年前首相看上去几乎战无不胜，现在已慢慢被抽干了权力，一切开始于2017年选举中她以惨败丢失保守党的多数席位，他们曾想象这场选举能以压倒性优势大获全胜。她不受欢迎的脱欧协议在议会中两次被否决——以创纪录和接近创纪录的票数差距。她没有值得谈论的国内政绩，也几乎无法控制她的内阁，更不用说政党。梅在脱欧这件事上拿到了一手坏牌，而她打得极度糟糕。
长句：A prime minister who two years ago looked almost invincible has been slowly bled dry of authority, starting with her calamitous loss of the Tories’ majority in 2017 in an election which they had been fancied to win with a landslide (see Bagehot). 主干是A prime minister has been bled dry of authority. 注意有两个定语从语，第一个在主干部分who two years ago looked almost invincible；第二个在现在分词引导的状态后which they had been fancied to win with a landslide。
Such is the mess Britain finds itself in that even jettisoning a powerless prime minister is not really a step forward. Despite her offer, a last desperate plea for the backing of Tory rebels, her deal remains unchanged and unloved. There is a faint chance that this kamikaze gesture could succeed. Some hard-line Brexiteers, including Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, who have long rubbished Mrs May’s deal, now see that the most likely alternative is something cooked up by Parliament which would keep Britain closer to the EU. Her promise to resign gives them an excuse to make their screeching U-turn. But the odds remain against her even now. The ten MPs of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party along with dozens of “Spartan” Tory Brexiteers are doggedly holding out. There is a limit to the number of times Mrs May can be defeated on her deal before it dies.
jettison：把…作为废物抛弃，扔掉
hard-line：强硬的，不妥协的
cook up：编造; 快速做（饭等）; 胡诌; 诌;
screech：尖叫；发出刺耳声
the odds：机率; 可能性,机会;
Spartan：简朴的，清苦的；斯巴达式的
doggedly：固执地，顽强地;
hold out：伸出; 拿出; 呈现; 抵抗;
英国发现它处于如此混乱的状况下，即使它放弃一个没有权力的首相，这也并非真正向前迈进的一步。尽管她的提议是最后一次绝望的请求——向保守党反对派请求支持，她的协议依然未有改变，也不受热爱。这场“神风”行为所展现的姿态会有一丝微弱的成功机会。一些“硬脱欧”派的成员，包括鲍里斯·约翰逊和雅各布·里斯-莫格，长久以来他们都对梅的协议嗤之以鼻，而现在发现最有可能的替代品是议会迅速编撰的一些方案，而这些方案可能会让英国和欧盟保持更紧密的关系。她的辞职承诺给了他们借口，把自己的态度来了个刺耳的180度急转弯。但即使是现在，成功的机率依然不容乐观。北爱尔兰民主统一党的10位议员，还有“斯巴达式”保守党脱欧派的许多议员都在顽固地抵抗。梅的协议遭到否决的次数是有限的，在那之后协议将会最终流产。
长句：Despite her offer, a last desperate plea for the backing of Tory rebels, her deal remains unchanged and unloved. 插入语a last desperate plea for the backing of Tory rebels修饰offer
背景：the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party：北爱尔兰民主统一党（Democratic Unionist Party，简称DUP） [1] ，成立于1971年，是北爱尔兰亲英政党，也是北爱尔兰当地最大政党，是英国下议院第四大党。
A more fundamental reason Mrs May’s offer does not solve Brexit is that it leaves Parliament’s divisions as wide as ever. Even if enough MPs were willing to hold their nose and vote for her deal, this would not be because they suddenly agreed on the way forward, but because each faction believed that, after Mrs May goes, it would have a chance to wrench away control of the next stage of the negotiations. Diehard Brexiteers dream of one of their own at last calling the shots in Brussels and showing the world how to out-negotiate the EU. Pro-Europeans, licking their wounds, would strive to salvage a soft Brexit. Both Leavers and Remainers still think they have a chance of winning if they push hard enough, and the removal of Mrs May the fence-straddler would only confirm their conviction. It is a fantasy that risks taking Britain back to square one of its debate on Brexit’s trade-offs.
hold one's nose：捏着鼻子，意为压制厌恶的感觉 不得以要去做的事情
wrench：猛拉；夺走（某人）；拆散
call the shots：定调子，操纵;
salvage：（尤指从失事船只、火灾或水灾中）抢救，打捞；挽救，挽回
fence-straddler：<美>和事佬，两面讨好者;
conviction：坚定的看法；坚定的信念；坚定的信仰；定罪，判罪
back to square one：被迫从头做起；回到起点
trade-off：权衡; 交易;
梅的提议并未解决脱欧问题，更根本的原因在于它留下了一个比任何时期都更分裂的议会。即使有足够的议员愿意捏着鼻子、勉强为她的协议投下支持票，这并不会是因为他们突然赞成了这样的前进之路，而是因为每个派系都相信，在梅下台后，自己会有机会夺得下一阶段谈判的控制权。死硬的脱欧派梦想自己人的一份子最后在布鲁塞尔拍板，向世界展示如何在谈判中摆脱欧盟。亲欧派会舔舐着他们的伤口，奋力挽回争取软脱欧。无论脱欧派还是留欧派都仍认为，如果足够强硬，他们还有赢的机会，“和事佬”梅下台只会让他们原本坚定就的看法更加确定。这是一个幻想——冒着让英国被迫回到脱欧交易谈判原点的风险。
长句：It is a fantasy that risks taking Britain back to square one of its debate on Brexit’s trade-offs). 定语从句It is a fantasy risk doing...。这是一个冒着……风险的幻想，risk是take Britain (back to square one) of its debate (on Brexit’s trade-offs)
This week’s most promising news is that Parliament has begun the search for a way out of this delusion. After dramatically seizing control of the Commons agenda, Parliament has begun debating the various realistic Brexit options before holding votes on them. After two years indulging in all kinds of fantasies about what life outside the EU would be like—“no downside…only a considerable upside”, as the first of Britain’s three Brexit secretaries fatuously put it—Parliament has started to reconcile itself to Brexit’s harsh trade-offs. Restricting immigration from Europe means leaving the single market; regulatory divergence necessarily erects barriers to trade; maintaining open borders in Northern Ireland precludes an independent trade policy. This week’s indicative votes offer a way to find a compromise deal that has the genuine consent of MPs. It is a rebuke to Mrs May, who might be in a better position today had she sounded out opinion before the Brexit negotiations began.
delusion：幻想；错觉
indulge：（使）沉溺于；（尤指）放纵
upside：优点；好处；有利的一面；downside：不利的一面，不利因素
fatuously：愚昧地，昏庸地，蠢地;
preclude：排除，防止，杜绝；阻碍
indicative：标示的；表明的
rebuke：斥责；指责；训斥
本周，最让人感觉到希望的消息是议会开始了找寻方法，来走出这样的幻想。在戏剧性地获得下议院进程的控制权后，议会已经就之后要进行投票表决的各种现实性脱欧选项开展辩论。经历了两年沉迷于对脱离欧盟后的生活抱有各种不切实际的想法——“没有不利的方面……只有可观的益处”——例如英国三位脱欧秘书长之一的愚昧言论——议会已经开始就自身与苛刻的脱欧条款开展调解。限制欧洲移民意味着离开单一市场；监管上的差异必然引起贸易壁垒；维持北爱尔兰的开放边境会妨碍独立贸易政策的执行。本周的意向性投票为找到一个获得国会议员真正同意的妥协协议提供了一种途径。这是对梅的一次指责，如果她在脱欧谈判开始前就发表了自己的意见，她今天可能会处于更好的处境中。
背景：http://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/usstock/c/2019-03-27/doc-ihtxyzsm1032562.shtml 欧进程究竟如何推进? 议会意向性表决16个选项一览 英国议会终于取得了脱欧进程的控制权之后，即将通过表决的方式，说明意欲如何推进脱离事宜。他们将从伦敦时间周三19点开始，用笔和纸质的选票，对一系列的选项进行投票，其中包括与欧盟继续保持密切的关系、举行第二次公投等。议员们将可对他们支持的每一个选项进行投票，其目的是找到可以获得多数支持的解决方案。投票结果对政府没有约束力--但议会可以通过后续措施，令其产生约束力。动议可分成两类，一类关注结果：英国和欧盟的关系应当如何；一类关注过程：应当如何取得此种关系。
None of the votes this week produced a clear majority—despite a second attempt next week, they may never do so. But do not write them off just yet. A large number of MPs looked favourably on the idea that any deal approved by Parliament should be put to a confirmatory referendum. And a proposal for a customs union fell only eight votes short. The trouble is that, if she hangs on because her deal has not been passed, as Downing Street suggests, Mrs May could well stand in the way of a Brexit produced in Parliament. Yet, if she goes, a new prime minister might not feel bound by it at all.
write sb/sth off：认为…无用；认定…失败
just yet：恰好现在这时还（不能）
confirmatory：确定的，证实的;
hang on：坚持下去; 等候; 紧紧抓住; 等待某事发生;
bound：肯定的；极有可能的；必然的；受束缚的，受约束的；（法律或道德上）有义务的
本周的投票中，没有一项产生了明显的多数票，或许永远也不会有一场投票能选出来——尽管下周还会尝试举行第二次投票。但尚不到对投票的失败盖棺定论之时。数量相当多的议员看上去偏好这样的想法：议会通过的任何协议都应进行一场确定性公投。而且，建议设立海关同盟的提案仅以7票之差遭到否决。麻烦的事在于，如果姨因为她的协议未能通过而坚持在首相位置上等候——正如唐宁街所暗示的——她可能会对议会出台脱欧方案造成相当的妨碍。然而，如果她下台，新总理或许根本不会感觉受到这样的束缚。
备注：简单说就是评论认为现在的希望在于议会出台自己的方案，然而梅姨的做法是以自己的下台换取议会对她方案的支持，议会通过她就下台，反过来说就是议会不支持她就不下台，而她不下台，对议会通过自己的脱欧方案是阻碍。
And that leads to the last reason Mrs May’s offer could complicate Brexit: the dubious mandate of her successor. A freshly installed leader will probably want to set his or her own course, rather than take orders from MPs. The new prime minister will have been selected by the 120,000 members of the Conservative Party, who are whiter, older and richer and much keener on a hard Brexit than the divided country that elects Parliament. The new leader’s mandate would not reflect the 17.4m who voted to leave, let alone the 16.1m Remainers. Why should Parliament suddenly feel bound to fall into line?
mandate：授权；委任 the authority given to an elected group of people, such as a government, to perform an action or govern a country
fall into line：和某人统一立场, 跟他步调一致。
feel bound to：(感到)有责任或义务 ...； 必须
这引出了梅的提议会让脱欧复杂化的最后一个原因：无法确定她的继任者采取何种命令。一个新上任的领导者将很可能想要设定自己的路线，而不是从议员那里获得命令。新任首相将会由12万保守党人选出，比起这个选举出议会的四分五裂的国家民众，这些人更白种、更老、更富有而且对硬脱欧要更坚持得多。新领导者的命令不会反映投下1740万脱欧支持者的意愿，更不用说1610万留欧派。为什么议会会反要突然感到他们有责任必须要团结一致？
Look at it any way and Mrs May’s departure leaves the course of Brexit as radically uncertain as it has ever been. All options— including crashing out, a long delay and the revocation of Brexit—are still feasible.
revocation：废止，撤回;
feasible：可行的; 可用的; 可实行的; 可能的;
不管怎么看，梅离开使英国的脱欧进程面临前所未有的不确定。所有的选择——包括冲突、长时间拖延和废止脱欧——仍然是可行的。
That is why a better way—perhaps the only way—to agree on Brexit and to pass the dozens of bills it requires would be for Parliament to compromise on a plan and for the country to confirm it in a referendum. A stable, consenting majority in Parliament and the country is an essential foundation for the next stage. If Mrs May were to dig in her heels against such a plan, her departure would be necessary. Even then it would not be sufficient.
consent：v./n.同意；答应；许可，允许
dig in one's heels：决不妥协
那就是为什么一个更好的方法——可能是唯一的方法——能让脱欧协议达成一致，并让其必须的数量繁多的法案得以通过，就是议会对某一方案做出妥协，并通过全民公投让整个国家加以确认。议会和国家中有一个稳定、一致的多数派，是进入下一阶段的必要基础。如果梅打算坚决不妥协，反对这样的计划，她的下台会是必要的。或许即使辞职都不足够。
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