Don't Let Brexit Volatilty Unsettle You. Things Will Calm Down

Today, Jacob Rees-Mogg—subject of merry memes, leader of the House of Commons and the chamber's Honourable Member for the 18th Century—laid out the legislative agenda for the rest of the week. UK lawmakers will resume debating the Queen's Speech, which set out the government's program for this parliamentary session, with most focus on the National Health Service. Astute readers will notice the preceding sentences do not include the word Brexit. This is because Parliament managed to vote both for and against Brexit today, leaving Rees-Mogg and Commons Speaker John Bercow in a good-natured debate over whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal is in limbo, Purgatory or stasis. On paper, the UK is still scheduled to leave the EU on Halloween. Whether that actually happens is still a mystery. If it happens, whether it follows Johnson's deal or not is also still a mystery. The situation is so fast-changing, we almost didn't write this commentary. But we also thought a procedural explanation might help you, dear reader, put today's headlines and handwringing in context.