Mark Twain could have been writing about Brexit and the Commons' indicative vote process when he described the tense stand-off between Tom Sawyer and the boy who had shoes on (even though it was only Friday) on a summer evening in the little shabby village of St. Petersburg Missouri.
“If one moved, the other moved — but only sidewise, in a circle; they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time. Finally Tom said: ‘I can lick you!’ ‘I’d like to see you try it.’ ‘Well, I can do it.’ ‘No you can’t, either.’ ‘Yes I can.’ ‘No you can’t.’ ‘I can.’ ‘You can’t.’ ‘Can!’ ‘Can’t!’”
(The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Chapter 1).