I would say that there's a lot that the Government could do. They could, for example, start seriously trying to negotiate a deal.
Which every child over the age of 6 knows they can't do if no-deal is off the table. You can't negotiate if the opponent knows you have no choice but to take whatever they offer. Why do remainers persist in thinking everyone else doesn't see understand this patently obvious lie?
Try asking your boss for a raise if s/he knows that your rent has just gone up and you've been looking for a job for months without success. It's a bad joke.
Or they could ask for an extension so they can leave Brexit for a few months and get on with running the country - to take two examples.
And what would be the point of waiting for another few months? We've had years of this. Did you not notice?
Or they arrange a referendum on some specific Brexit arrangement - which realisitically, is probably the only this whole thing might get resolved.
Well, again, we all know that will just mean Remaining because those who want to leave want to do so for different reasons, while those that want to remain are basically united. If there's more than one leave option then remain will be the largest share of the vote even if the leave options are in the majority - so the Remain camp will insist that they won and if anyone objects on any grounds, they will throw their toys out of the pram again.
The alternative is that there will be one option for leaving on the paper which will be carefully picked to be as unpalatable as possible - this is the EU's standard operating proceedure for re-running votes that went the wrong way. Only lunatics will vote for that and, again Remain gets what they wanted - to overturn the democratic referendum decision.
The reason the Government seems boxed in is because Boris has (presumably for purely electoral purposes) set himself in thrall to the hardcore Brexiteers in the Tory Party, as well as to his desire to neutralise the Brexit party electorally - and to achieve that he has set this daft arbitrary deadline of 31 October
There's nothing daft about it in the context of YEARS of this hollow posturing dragging on. February 1st is no less arbitrary, nor is 1st May or whatever the next pointless delay would be after that.
refusing to countenance the obviously very sensible step of extending the deadline if he can't negotiate a reasonable deal by that date.
He can't negotiate a deal with this parliament opposing him, that's all there is to it and why we need an election - as you well know. The EU will just offer the same take-it-or-leave it deal that parliament has rejected three times. What you *mean* is that he should take the very sensible step of ignoring the majority vote and doing what you want him to do instead. Because you're special or something, I suppose. When the people get it wrong, send in the technocrats to beat the hell out of them economically until they see sense and vote the right way. Just like in Ireland. Just like Italy. Just like Spain. Just like Greece. And just like Argentina. If anyone objects, wrap yourself in the EU flag and sing empty words about Euopean ideals you abandoned decades ago.
As for the fixed term Parliament act - many other countries seem to manage with fixed terms.
They don't really. There are countries that have them, but they're not managing well as far as I can see. They have a lot of trouble with stymied and ineffective governments. You know, like the one we have now.
And it does have the huge advantage that it makes it harder for the Government to manipulate election dates to suit their own electoral purposes.
That's not an advantage, IMO. I understand why the hopeless LibDems liked the idea, they only look good for about ten minutes at a time every 20 years. This at least gives them a slim chance that the election will fall during that sliver of a window.