When the cry first went up for a second referendum on Brexit, it seemed like a desperate last gasp by those who could not accept the result of the first. After a full debate in the streets and the media, the largest vote the British public has ever cast in any sort of poll secured a narrow win for leaving the European Union. Both major parties at Westminster then endorsed the poll result in their 2017 general election manifestos.

Both still say the same, but each of them has imposed conditions. And there is the rub. Though the negotiations are far from over, it is clear many of those conditions are unlikely to be met. Labour’s – that leaving the EU should leave British workers no worse off than if they stayed – now looks more unrealistic than ever.