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!’”
Only sidewise movement
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).