With a little more than 20 days to go until Brexit and not a deal or meaningful agreement in place, you would hope the MPs in parliament would be hard at work trying to solve the deadlock.
You probably won't be surprised to hear that that isn't the case at all as they are in fact talking about codpieces. Yes, really.
In a bizarre moment on Thursday morning, the attorney general Geoffrey Cox decided to brag about the contents of his underpants and how well everything down there was functioning.
Cox made the boast after he was asked by Labour MP Helen Goodman asked him about the government's policy towards reopening negotiations on the withdrawal agreement.
In response, Cox said:
It is government policy to achieve the necessary change in the backstop which will cause me to review and change my advice. That is government policy, that is the discussion we are having.
I would say Mr speaker that it has become known as 'Cox's codpiece'Â What I'm concerned to ensure is that what is inside the codpiece is in full working order.
This quite frankly surreal moment is in reference to Tory MP Steve Baker who dubbed Cox's attempts to satisfy hard-line Brexiteers on the backstop and Theresa May's deal as the aforementioned codpiece.
Although it all seemed like a barrel of laughs for Cox and his fellow MPs, who all had a jolly good chuckle at the remark, Twitter was somewhat lost for words.
With 22 days left until Brexit we go now to the House of Commons. https://t.co/siJ26htZ3j— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1551954941
Oh my. Geoffrey Cox on his renegotiation; “It has become known as Cox’s Codpiece and it is my job to ensure everyt… https://t.co/CYDiSsmyMl— Carl Dinnen (@Carl Dinnen) 1551954531
OMG!!! Geoffrey Cox refers to "Cox's codpiece" - and says his priority is to make sure what is inside is in working order....— Nick Eardley (@Nick Eardley) 1551954473
Trying to summon the strength to edit 1,200 words on Geoffrey Cox's codpiece comments— Daisy Wyatt (@Daisy Wyatt) 1551969456
Just catching up with Geoffrey Cox and John Bercow in this morning's House of Commons session - the pair of them ha… https://t.co/hIeKpa42i4— Paul Colgan (@Paul Colgan) 1551960640
Oh my. Geoffrey Cox on his renegotiation; “It has become known as Cox’s Codpiece and it is my job to ensure everyt… https://t.co/CYDiSsmyMl— Carl Dinnen (@Carl Dinnen) 1551954531
Geoffrey Cox on his renegotiation: “It has become known as Cox’s Codpiece and it is my job to ensure everything wit… https://t.co/wCyvibVrKa— Anastasia Zawierucha (@Anastasia Zawierucha) 1551961471
@AdamBienkov The country's fate is in the hands of clowns. This can't end well. https://t.co/1ikFeHATvR— Arun Joshi (@Arun Joshi) 1551961329
Anna Soubry of The Independent Group was exactly complimentary of Cox's performance in the Commons today either.
Just when you thought the shambles that is this Govt couldn’t get much worse #GeoffreyCox demeans the office of Att… https://t.co/X9T4c9jipG— Anna Soubry (@Anna Soubry) 1551966042
If you aren't quite up to speed with the male fashion of the 1500s, a codpiece was a pouch or a flap that attached to the front of a pair of trousers and hung in a fashion that would cover a person's nether regions.
HT Mirror