Parliament has the legal right to ignore the referendum. 议会有无视公投的法律权利。

But after a record number of people voted (to “take back control”, no less), it could be catastrophic for trust in mainstream parties if it were to do so. 但在创纪录数量的民众投票(至少是“夺回控制权”)后，如果这样做，对主流政党的信任可能是灾难性的。

In truth, the democratic argument is more complicated. 事实上，民主争论更加复杂。

The vote to leave was an expression not just of Euroscepticism but of a wider frustration. 脱欧公投不仅是欧洲怀疑论的表现，也是一种更广泛的挫败感的表现。

It exposed divisions by age, region and class that the old left-right party divide had covered up. 它暴露了过去左右两党分裂所掩盖的按年龄、地区和阶级划分的分歧。

Far from bridging those divides, the bitter arguments since the referendum have if anything caused the two sides to move even further apart. 公投后的激烈争论非但没有弥合这些分歧，反而导致双方进一步分裂。

Overturning the vote would risk making them irreconcilable. 推翻投票结果可能会使他们无法和解。

But adopting a Brexit deal like the one on offer would be unlikely to heal those wounds. 但是，采用英国退欧这样的协议不大可能治愈这些创伤。

Indeed, to the extent that the referendum was a howl by the left-behind against rule by remote and uncaring elites, this form of Brexit could make those problems worse. 事实上，退欧公投在某种程度上是左派对遥远而冷漠的精英统治的抗议，这种形式的退欧可能会让这些问题变得更糟。

Anger at unaccountable rulers would not be assuaged by a deal in which Britain followed orders from people it could not elect. 对不负责任的统治者的愤怒不会因为一项协议而得到缓解，在该协议中，英国听从了它不能选出来的人的命令。

And those keen just to get the whole thing over with might find that Brexit marked only the beginning of national argument about the relationship with the behemoth next door. 而那些只想把事情办完的人可能会发现，英国退欧仅仅标志着围绕英国与隔壁巨头关系的全国性争论的开始。

Nor is it clear that the democratic thing to do is to hold people to the result of a two-year-old, narrowly won referendum, when the consequence of the vote has turned out to be quite different from what many voters expected. 投票的结果与许多选民的预期大不相同，表明继续人民坚持两年、以微弱优势赢得公投的结果是否民主。

Polls suggest that a small majority now prefers Remain to Leave; more might prefer Remain to a compromise like the deal on offer. 民意调查显示，现在有一小部分人倾向于留在欧盟而不是离开；更多的人可能更愿意继续留在欧盟，而不是像现有协议那样妥协。

Almost all MPs want to respect the will of the people. 几乎所有的议员都想尊重人民的意愿。

The question is whether the people’s will found its perfect and enduring expression in 2016, or whether it might have changed. 问题是，人民的意志是否在2016年得到了完美而持久的表达，或者它是否已经发生了变化。

There is no simple way out of this endgame. 没有简单的办法走出这一终局。

Whether the Brexit deal is accepted or rejected, it will scar Britain for years. 不管英国脱欧协议是被接受还是被拒绝，它都会给英国留下多年的伤痕。

And yet too many politicians are still grandstanding. 然而，仍有太多政客在哗众取宠。

Some Brexiteers still pretend there is a Plan B that would deliver a painless exit. 一些退欧派人士仍在假设存在一种无痛脱欧的“B计划”。

Labour is mainly concerned with forcing a general election. 工党主要关心的是强迫举行大选。

That needs to change, and fast. 这需要改变，而且要快。

This momentous decision must be made in the most reasoned way possible and with the maximum information available. 这一重大决定必须以最合理的方式作出，并提供尽可能多的资料。

Politicians of all stripes have spent the past two years talking about the national interest. 在过去的两年里，形形色色的政客都在谈论国家利益。

In the coming weeks they must weigh up where they think it lies. 在接下来的几个星期里，政客们必须权衡一下自己认为国家利益在哪里。