3-2-1 No-Deal Brexit

It occurs to me that the No-Deal  Brexit arguments put forward by the government especially the Prime Minister, and the likes of the final clues in the game show 3-2-1 for their interpretation which could mean anything.

The likely prize of a No-Deal Brexit.

I am sadly old enough to remember  the UK game show  It ran for ten years, between 29 July 1978 and 24 December 1988, with Ted Rogers as the host.

It was based on a Spanish gameshow called Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez and was a trio of three shows in one: a quiz, variety and a game show.

The show was a huge success, consistently pulling in large ratings. The first series, though intended as a summer filler, attracted up to 16.5 million viewers and subsequent years never failed to peak below 12 million. The show occupied a Saturday early evening slot for most of its run.

The final Christmas special, broadcast on 24 December 1988, attracted 12.5 million viewers, but an eleventh series was not commissioned. Ted Rogers claimed in an April 1996 interview that "The Oxbridge lot got control of TV and they didn't really want it. It was too downmarket for them. We were still getting 12 million viewers when they took it off after ten years. These days if a show gets nine million everyone does a lap of honour."

At the beginning of part three, Ted would decode the clue and reveal the prize which the final couple rejected before the end of part two. Another act would then perform and leave another clue, leaving three on the table. Ted would then re-read one of the earlier two clues, before the couple chose their second item to reject before that prize was then revealed to them. 

The clues became notorious for being almost impossibly difficult and obscure, having only a remote connection to the prizes, which contestants sometimes did not appear to grasp even after Ted had revealed it to them. It has often been suggested that the clues had more than one possible explanation, allowing the producers to control which prize the contestants received. Indeed, in one episode, Ted jokingly said to confused contestants, attempting to make a decision: "well, the rhymes could mean anything, as you know.".

Here's one example

Another example.

A wishbone brought on by Sonny Hayes came with the clue "Take one that never changes, add a pub and a precious stone, bring them all up-to-date, and now, you're on your own.", which the contestants rejected hoping it referred to Dusty Bin. Rogers' explanation of the clue was: "'Take one that never changes', well, that could be Dusty Bin which of course is where you might throw a wishbone. 'Add a pub and a precious stone', well, that doesn't point to Dusty. 'Bring them all up-to-date, and now you're on your own.'. Well, what about the wishbone? Sonny said 'a large wishbone', so what might a large wishbone come from? Something larger than a chicken. Turkey, maybe? Now, 'one that never changes.' is a constant, a pub can also be an inn, there's a lot of precious stones but how many go with 'constant inn'? How about opal? Yes, Constantinople, up to date, the pride of Turkey, you've rejected a 3–2–1 holiday!".

So it was more of lottery, than a exercise in brainpower as Todgers said "well, the rhymes could mean anything, as you know.". IT  is the perfect analogy of a No-Deal Brexit  it is possible that it could lead to grand prize, but unlike the game show  the chances of winning the Dustbin seem far more likely