@ukhaiku I agree, too. I really didn't see how the government could have believed otherwise. To leave the EU we have to rescind the Act of Parliament, which took us in there (I think). It would be very scary if any party who happened to have the balance of power could just tear up the law. No matter what one's views on staying or leaving (and I know we probably differ), proper process must be followed.
Of course, it does put a lot of MPs in an awkward position, given most of them seem to want to stay, when their constituents voted, overwhelmingly in some cases, to leave. That could be interesting. I have a feeling that if all MPs voted in line with constituency results in the referendum, then leaving will happen - by a seemingly far larger margin than the actual referendum result. Which seems kind of perverse to hold a simple majority (of people who bothered to vote, of course) referendum which could be affected by our constituency-based parliamentary elections.
It's all rather muddled, innit. But the correct result today, in my view.
// @neilco