We have refrained from commenting overmuch on Boris Johnson’s accession to the role of PM in the UK in this and other fora for the same reason that one does not comment on car crashes, especially when they are completely predictable. It’s just bad form to mock the afflicted.
But be under no misapprehension, Dear Reader – for all that his acolytes pretend he is some kind of wayward genius, Boris Johnson has now shown himself up as a blustering incompetent.
The proroguing of Parliament – denied by Number 10 for a month despite the planning for it now being revealed – is and was an anti-democratic coup designed to stifle Parliamentary oversight of one of the most crucial periods in British history since the second world war, irregardless of waffle from Rees-Mogg and others.
The British people know it, which is why they have roused themselves from their somnambular walk towards a No Deal Brexit and taken to the streets in their hundreds of thousands.
If Johnson wanted to unite the anti-Brexit forces he can hardly have done a better job than shutting down Parliament to stifle inconvenient debate.
Remember: as many have noted in the Twitterverse and elsewhere, the British cut the head off the last person to do that. For all that nothing excites British passion as much as a good game of football or the perennial battle for the cricket Ashes, they are rather partial to their Parliament being allowed to do its thing.
And withdrawing the whip from some of the best Tory MPs in the House who dared to exercise critical thought in the vote yesterday in London simply reveals him as both a strategic idiot for making the threat, and an even bigger fool for following through on it. The sheer hypocrisy of the move when this sanction was never applied to row after row of Brexiteers in vote after vote in the House reveals the total vacuity of the Government’s position – a fact which will now be pointed out repeatedly by the commentariat.
What we think will happen now is that the Opposition and the Tory Rebels will resist any calls for a General Election until after they have taken No Deal off the table, which act will then leave Johnson as ham-strung in negotiations with the EU as poor old Theresa May was for three years.
And even if he could subsequently successfully call a General Election – by no means certain, as the House will have to give him a 2/3rds majority to do so – there is no guarantee he will win it, as he will be effectively saying “OK, I messed up my Brexit attempt despite telling you I’d fix it … now we’re back where we were three years ago, but please give the Conservatives another chance because I’m a better Prime Minister than Theresa May was.”
Hardly a convincing call, when he’s just shown himself to be anything but competent.
The British headlines tell an unmissable story. “Brexit bomshell: Boris loses control” (The Mirror), “Humiliation for Johnson” (Guardian), “Johnson loses control” (i), “PM loses historic vote” (The Times), “Johnson strategy in ruins” (Financial Times). Overseas comment is hardly kinder: “Boris Johnsonās populist playbook implodes” said the Washington Post.
A Labour/Lib Dem/Nationalist Coalition government is at least as likely as a Tory win, especially when you consider that Brexit is much less popular in Wales and Scotland, and that the Brexit Party waits in the wings ready to snap at the Tories’ heels, splitting the pro-Brexit vote, should October 31st be revealed as the day Britain actually did not, yet again, leave the EU.
Let’s put this in perspective. Johnson just got thrashed on the floor of the House in his SECOND DAY actually in the Parliament. No amount of hairy chest-beating in the Tory leadership election or since makes up for that simple fact. Nor that he has managed to outlaw two previous Chancellors of the Exchequer, the grandson of his political idol Nicholas Soames – a harmless old fuddy duddy at the best of times – and one of the contenders for the Tory Leadership – Rory Stewart – who proved himself very popular with the public. (And who may yet replace Johnson.)
Credit where credit is due. Let’s never forget who foisted this chaos on the British people, and the world, in a staggering failure of political strategy and leadership.
Perhaps the Parliament should pass a law banning Old Etonians from being PM? Remember this chaos was begun by the equally politically incompetent David Cameron.
As we have always said, if Brexit ever does succeed, it will be a wishy-washy cobbled-together Brexit which achieves none of the goals of the Leave campaign – a Brexit in name only – except to remove Britain from the discussions at the heart of Europe of which it should, of course, be a part.
Our prediction is that Boris Johnson will one day be seen as an irrelevant blip on the road to that outcome.
We think a Labour-LibDem-Nationalist majority in the House whenever the next election occurs will offer the people a second referendum based on some compromise deal of which the facts are actually known, as well as the option to stay in the EU, and that this time the “stay in the EU” option will actually be in the majority.
And then, at long last, the British Parliament can get back to actually governing.
Under those circumstances, we also think it is highly likely that the British Conservative Party will break into two parties – one pro EU and one against – and they will condemn themselves to a generation of irrelevance by keeping on talking about Europe when no one else ever wants to hear about it again.
#Brexit #BrexitShambles #BorisJohnson
Well, This Is What I Think 
Good piece of writing!
You hit a box full of nails on their heads here.
But if there is a UK General Election before Christmas 2019 – do not underestimate the power of the Billionaire Press Barons and their echo in BBC Infotainment (what used to be known as BBC News).
As Murdoch’s Sun might have said after the 2016 Referendum –
“IT WAS WE BILLIONAIRES WHAT WON IT”.
Was there not a similar media influence over voters in the Australian election earlier this year?
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There was John, and I agree they can never be discounted, especially in the UK. However I suspect that SMART politicians can still appeal successfully over the heads of the press barons, especially in an era on online media.
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I do agree John, the BBC’s reporting has been so outstandingly awful after 2016 that I cannot watch it. They constantly repeat the lie that “52% of the population voted for Brexit”. That would mean around 33 million did so – and only 17.4 million did in reality! (Please see my remarks below about the ONS, the number of registered voters in 2016 of 46.1 million meaning the Brexit vote was 38% of the total electorate etc). I have written to the BBC about this but no-one with a fully functioning brain seemed to read it.
That is why we must get involved in peoples-vote.uk and every other organisation contending for democracy here – and encourage every political party we belong to and others that we don’t to agree loudly and publicly for tactical voting.
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You can play with figures as much as you like but there is no denying that 52% of those who bothered to vote did indeed vote to LEAVE. Those people who couldn’t be bothered to vote or showed no interest can hardly complain foul play or un-democratic actions afterwards.
Bearing in mind the multiple voting by students and the mishandling of postal votes that 52% could have been even higher.
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Or lower. But none of that is relevant.
The vote was won by admitted lying and illegal over-spending, and was advisory only. The Parliament and the Government are not bound by it. Anyway, in a democracy people are entitled to change their minds. The reason Brexit fanatics are dead against a second referendum is they know Remain would now win easily.
The Leave campaign was also predicated on a deal that the British people would be pleased to support. No Deal – or a crap deal – was never suggested. The passage of time shows that is all that is on offer, and the safety of Britainās population trumps any advisory-only referendum.
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If, as you say, it was advisory then why haven’t they just ignored the result. I would politely suggest that you are wrong on this point.
As far as false information is concerned they were of equal measure from both sides and still continue from Remainers.
As for a second vote is concerned. That is exactly why some of us now want a Geberal Election to help put this issue to bed. What I would like to know is what will Remainers complain about when they lose again?
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1) check the legislation – I have, I know you havenāt, and I assure you it was advisory only.
2) people were conned by the big red bus. Dominic Cummings admits it was the deciding factor. And it was a bare-faced lie.
3) Iād be perfectly happy to have a General Election to put the matter to bed, as it will be the end of Brexit. But Johnson wonāt get his election till the current No āNo Dealā is in law, and he wonāt get it till after the next EU Council of Ministers meets. (Oct 19th from memory.)
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1. If it’s only advisory why is everyone still debating the issue? Maybe they are all wrong and you’re right Yolly.
2. The slogan on the bus was a suggestion of the sort of saving that could be made. It was very effective and as a marketeer Steve, I would have thought you would have thought it was clever.
3. I believe there will be ab election and bring it on. You must try and watch last night’s Question Time and witness the car crash of Emily (white van) Thornberry aka Lady Nugee
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1. Because: democracy allows discussion. And donāt be abusive or youāll be banned from commenting.
2. It was a specific commitment and a lie. It wasnāt an āexampleā, it was a deliberate untruth. Yes, it was effective.
3. There will be an election as soon as it isnāt used as a tactic to squeeze through a Boris Brexit. An ejection on 19th October or after? Bring it on.
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Who’s being abusive?
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I think you can work that out.
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Paul Brixey
You seem to repeat the propaganda lines of Fascists like Farage and Rees-Smug.
You seem to believe in the rigged referendum of almost 4 years ago.
I guess from your perspective democracy ended with that referendum ?
Maybe you also believe that whichever team won The Premier League in 2016 should stay as champions for ever?
Perhaps you have also eaten exactly the same meal every day for the last four years because you read a menu then and cannot possibly change your mind?
Of course for Fascists in 2019 it is very convenient to say that democracy ended in 2016 and nobody should ever vote again.
Fascists do not like voting, do they?
But please, don’t ask me to seat down and eat with them.
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Oh dear what a shame you have to revert to the old ‘fascist’ argument usually promoted by the student population.
I have no problem with people changing their minds etc but as a firm believer in democracy I believe that the result of the referendum should be addressed first. Then, by all means debates etc can take place.
I don’t want to enter a debate on right and left politics but I would suggest that the real fascists are on the left.
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Paul Brixey
Let me explore whatyou have just said.
You only believe that we should have democracy when the result of the rigged referendum of almost four years ago “has been addressed”?
And how do we kmow when it has been addressed?
Will it be when Theresa May’s version of what is meant by ‘Brexit’ has happened?
Or will it be when Nigel Farage’s versiom of Brexit has happened?
Or do you prefer Jeremy Corbyn’s version of what is meant by Brexit?
Or perhaps youn would go to the barricades to defend Arlene Foster’s UVF para-milotary version of what is mean by Brexit.
The problem with Brexit’s enthusiasts is they cannot even agree amongst themselves as to what the word means.
What do you mean by it?
Do you agree with Boris Johnson that we would all be better off “dead in a ditch” than avoiding a No-Deal Brexit ?
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I give up with you guys. Brexit is when we have left, lock stock and barrell, deal or no deal. You’ve no idea what the feeling is outside the London bubble but one day you will and God help you.
I used to be such a placid guy but Remainers have made me a very angry man.
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Paul, with all due respect, Europe was never an issue for anyone in the UK until Cameron foisted a completely unnecessary referendum on the country to solve the problems with his own far right. What a shame he didnāt have the courage of John Major in dealing with them. The result has been a complete fracturing of the body politic in the UK.
As for āwhat the feeling is outside Londonā do you mean in Brecon? Or perhaps Scotland?
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If you think the EU wasn’t on people’s minds before the referendum I would respectfully suggest that you are in cuckoo land.
Cameron should have stayed and dealt with the result in my opinion but that’s another story.
I was making the point about the UK as a whole and as you well know, Scotland has their own motives.
Your comment about Brecon is laughable and watch what you wish for because if Boris works with Farage the political map will be totally different.
As far as the Lib ‘un ‘ Dems are concerned they are now looking as the political prostitutes to all and sundry with very odd views. A sorry end to a once great party.
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Paul that is the last āangryā comment I am going to accept from you. Consider yourself warned.
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I suggest you read these words from Matthew Parris very, very carefully:
Matthew Parris
September 6 2019, 5:00pm, The Times
Donāt blame Boris Johnson for the Tory meltdown
The prime ministerās turbulent leadership is a symptom, not the cause, of a disease that infected my party years ago.
The Conservative Party is dying. What happened this week cannot be erased. A substantial and senior group of Conservative members of parliament joined forces with a hard-left Labour Party and almost all the other opposition parties to wrest control from their own leadership: a government they believe is intent on wrecking their country.
This is incendiary and necessary. Things have been said that cannot be unsaid, friendships broken that cannot be healed, loyalties ruptured beyond reconstruction; and all this in plain sight of an electorate that never loved the Conservative Party but trusted its competence and solidity. A once-respectful audience is in shock. They say that trust arrives on foot but leaves on horseback; the sound of hoofs fills the air. This partyās most precious asset is shattered.
Who killed the Conservative Party? Boris Johnson? Your columnist, a long-standing critic, feels the temptation to join the claque of his political and media supporters who this week discovered his uselessness as suddenly as last week they discovered his powers of decisive leadership. They frown at his feeble and tetchy dispatch box performances. They forget that Mr Johnson has never made an effective parliamentary speech in his life. So blame comes easy.
And itās true that Johnson is a bag of wind and a sordid opportunist: he always was, but there will always be such individuals ā Nigel Farage is another ā hovering in predatory fashion around the fringes of trouble in politics. They do not, however, make the trouble; they feed on it. It would be wrong to blame Johnson for the Tory misfortune. His plumage may be exotic but this bird is a scavenger.
No, the blame should rest on the shoulders of the Conservative Party, the whole Conservative Party and only the Conservative Party. They alone brought this Brexit trouble upon us. Our age rightly disapproves of the careless use of mental disorder as a metaphor for wrongheadedness but I am serious. Something mad has taken root in our party, and our internal defences ā our immune system ā seem to have been too feeble to identify this new jihadism, stand up to it and repel it.
Almost in tears, a friend said to me this week: āAll those years we argued about withdrawing the whip and throwing these madcaps out of the party and draining the poison but we murmured ābroad churchā and ātoleranceā and ādue processā. We were wrong.ā
Still, there are brave souls like the 21 Tory MPs who joined Tuesdayās move to take control of government business but they are just representatives of a larger, as yet silent group on the government benches who preferred ā keep preferring ā to stay their hand and fight another day, always another day.
Why are these 21 called rebels? Stalwarts (some of them) of Thatcherite policy, centrists, most of them, towers of strength in the Conservative Party as it used to be before it was taken over. Rebels? That anyone could dream of calling them rebels shows just how far the old party has been pushed towards the extremes.
The real rebellion has been by what was at first a minority in the parliamentary party: the hardline, Brexit-at-all-costs insurgency that is the European Research Group of Tory MPs.
This is where the madness started. This is where the project to relocate the party on the populist right began. This is what Theresa May proved cannot be tamed by a blank stare, and Boris Johnson is now proving cannot be managed by strut and bluster. It is these elements that have brought my party to the edge.
This week has also shown something else: that, even though we are on the precipice, it is still possible for parliament and the country to draw back from a no-deal Brexit.
But for the Conservative Party? I fear it is too late for retreat. There remain too few of what was once the partyās core to pull the whole Tory enterprise back to sanity, though it is true that the size of the rebellion on Tuesday understates the potential resistance.
As Johnson flails and national derision mounts, numbers may grow: he has only fairweather friends in politics. Even his brother Jo, a thoughtful moderate, found he could not support him any more and quit the government and parliament. More backbenchers may find their voice and even some of Johnsonās cabinet colleagues may rediscover their spines. But so many of the sensible people are not standing for election again, while others may be deselected, and those centrists who do make it back to dry land after the coming election will have to ask themselves whether the brand āToryā even remains an asset in a newly fragmented politics. Some, such as the former international development secretary Rory Stewart, have already made that decision.
I am writing this in northern Pakistan, a distant place from which to observe these remarkable days in our politics. From a country where questions of constitutional propriety remain hotly disputed, itās dismaying to see the certainties we British took for granted being revisited so easily by opportunist politicians.
How thin is that civilised veneer, even in a country like ours that prides itself on being governed by conventions and precedent to the extent that we do not need a written constitution!
I have been horrified to hear from Conservative politicians a jokey disregard for other voices anxious about a slipping-away from constitutionality. āWhat a fuss about nothing!ā they jeer, echoing that oh-so-public-school ābor-ing, bor-ingā ducking of the actual question that some tedious little grammar-school squit has got his knickers in a twist about.
They should remember that the rotting of politics does not always start with armed coups but with small, sneaky steps; with the normalisation of cheating and with sneers at people who are worried by it, dismissed with giggles about āalarmismā, āoverreactionā and āhyperboleā.
We are closer to the edge than we may think. My own Conservative Party is lost to the pragmatism and precaution for which it was once noted. After a general election we must see where the pieces fall. A parting with former comrades is already happening. We may need to find new ones.
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Paul Brixey
The London Bubble?
I come from Manchester – home to my mother’s side of the family.
My father and his 13 brothers and sisters grew up in rural Somerset where I am aware of more cousins living than I have ever counted.
My wife grew up in Glasgow, went to university in Edinburgh.
Can you tell me which of those places is in the London Bubble ?
You say something very odd about Scotland – perhaps because of the huge vote against Brexit in that distant Brexit referendum?
Do you say the same about Northern Ireland that also had a.big majority against Brexit ?
Or Newcastle, or Liverpool, or Manchester, or Bristol ?
Or are those places in your London Bubble?
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So out of touch with the feeling in our country as is often the case. A Labour/LibDem/Nationalist coalition government would be a disgraceful deal to work against the result of the Referendum.
By all means protest, whinge, whine and go against the people but should be after the referendum result is implemented.
The Tories are in turmoil at the moment but a mass of the British public supports Boris because at least he’s fighting back. If they join up with the Brexit Party the majority would be massive. It would certainly be the end of the Labour Party. The others don’t matter.
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All seen through your very biased viewpoint. I told you Brexit wasnāt ever going happen, certainly in any meaningful sense, years ago. And it wonāt. I know that upsets you, but you were warned.
PS there was nothing democratic about the 2016 referendum and we are not bound by it anyway.
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Certainly nothing democratic in the way you ignore a majority of a million. I may be biased but I can tell you that if there was another referendum tomorrow we would win again and probably with a larger majority.
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Fairly typical magical thinking, Paul. You might want it to be so, but you know full well that is nonsense. Or maybe you donāt? Who knows?
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Yolly, as I’m sure you know, the Office of National Statistics shows clearly that in 2016 at the (non binding) Referendum, there were 46.1 million registered voters in the UK. Some 17.4 million voted for Brexit, many of whom were influenced by the lies told by the Leave campaign (for which some parties have been fined) – many others have changed their minds as they are entitled to under a democracy, as the facts and the horrors and price rises, food shortages, medicine shortages, job losses in their hundreds of thousands (not just small businesses but the massive employers such as car firms who rely on astoundingly tight margins for delivery of car parts) becomes clear.
I’m sure you’d agree that even if those people hadn’t changed their minds – there is no way on earth that any nation should have its fate decided by 38% of the registered electorate – and an even smaller rump of the entire population!
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Paul Brixey
Serious and genuine question – How can you say a mass of people support Boris Johnson ? The only people so far to support him to be Prime Minister are the 0.02% of he UK population that voted or him in the Conservative leadership election, who are mostly the sort of elderly, out-of-touch, white, Tufton Buftons who say things like “Wogs begin at Calais”.
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I donāt think a mass of people support him …
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‘Serious and genuine….’ followed by the usual racist and abusive comments. Think I’ll stick with my opinion, thankyou.
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There is nothing racist in Johnās remarks. Donāt be silly.
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So why did he differentiate by using the word ‘white’ and I refuse to use the racist word in his last line.
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Because they are, overwhelmingly, old and white with ridiculously antiquated racist views. Do you disagree? And pointing out the racist language that THEY use is not racism. I mean, I know youāre just trolling for effect, as usual, but you really are being silly.
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Now be a good chap, and let other people have a say.
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Yolly, you might be interested in The Guardian’s take on what has been happening in Parliament in the last few days. John Crace (never one to mince his words) has commented here – after all the disasters and pollywaffle, not to mention the downright lies produced by Johnson, this is a section out of today’s Gruniad…
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/04/boris-johnson-fails-to-bring-tories-sunshine-in-excruciating-pmqs
“Johnson has breezed through life, flailing effortlessly upwards while happily trashing the lives of all those with whom he comes in contact. For him, being the prime minister is merely a position of entitlement rather than of responsibility. The ideal job for someone predisposed to laziness and arrogance. Someone for whom the idea of preparation is an unthinkable admission of failure…”
There is of course more, and I’m sure most people could continue that paragraph for some time with their opinions of Johnson, and in a very uncomplimentary fashion too, but it did sum up many of his traits!
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Thank you for those very erudite and interesting contributions, Jenny š
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Yolly, you’d have liked the first ten minutes of The Mash Report on BBC tv last night – where the wonderful Nish Kumar said that he was (with all the multiple oversight that he endures from a management oblivious to its own failings) allowed to say that Boris Johnson is a liar and a racist. He then repeated it, with relish. Then an illuminated sign saying it shone brightly! This is because Johnson was sacked from a job for lying and for Bojo’s own remarks in his newspaper columns! Well, those facts cannot be denied, though the clown Bojo’s go-to response whenever asked about how he has wasted public money for example (Ā£43 million on the garden bridge and other things) provokes a response that he ‘can’t recall’ why he did that – and he walks off.
Please God all of these political chickens will one day come home to roost for him – and soon!
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Thanks for the Matthew Parris article Yolly, it made interesting reading – though why those same moderate Tory party members couldn’t be bothered to listen to the moderates in politics decades ago when we warned everyone who would listen (almost no-one!) that today’s hard-right takeover was where they were heading, I just don’t know, perhaps they were blinded by very lucrative short term gains to their share portfolios and bank accounts. Matthew Parris didn’t listen then either – but at least he knows now we were telling the truth – and at least he is sounding the alarm in the Thunderer – perhaps someone will listen to him, hopefully they all will.
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Here is an excerpt from The People’s Vote morning briefing today –
“Rudd’s resignation underlines truth that renegotiation talk is a sham
Amber Ruddās decision to quit the Cabinet and the Tory Whip was another big blow for Boris Johnson, but she revealed the truth that attempts to renegotiate a Brexit deal are a āshamā.
“She explained what a lot of the country has been thinking: all the effort is going into No Deal planning, very little into constructively trying to go back to the EU with a new plan.
“Yesterday the Mail on Sunday revealed that Michael Gove is preparing to put 1,600 troops on standby to keep fuel flowing at the pumps. It is an indicator of how a destructive No Deal could affect everyday life, as was revealed by Peopleās Vote campaign research into local authority preparedness around the country. The civil service team negotiating with Brussels is now down to just four people, according to The Times.
“Conservative rebel and Peopleās Vote supporter Guto Bebb said: āAmber Ruddās resignation letter confirms reports this week where Boris Johnsonās senior adviser said the Governmentās attempts to negotiate a Brexit deal are a āshamā. It is clear Boris Johnson has no serious intention of fulfilling his stated promise of trying to secure a deal. The only democratic and legitimate way to resolve this crisis is not to trust Boris Johnson but to trust the people through a final say referendum.ā
“Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky News that the Government would ātest to the limitā the new law blocking No Deal, while Johnsonās declaration that he would rather be ādead in a ditchā than ask for another Article 50 extension led Justice Secretary Robert Buckland to remind the Prime Minister of the āimportance of the Rule of Lawā, an astonishing admonishment of any countryās leader.
“There is no mandate for a destructive No Deal and it is an insult for the Prime Minister to be even considering whether to ignore laws passed by Parliament. The only way out of this crisis is a People’s Vote.”
The Mail on Sunday’s report on Gove putting 1,600 troops on the street is very worrying – they KNOW that they are deliberately going to make life terribly hard and expensive for people by insisting on No-Deal – but they are going ahead with it anyway despite price rises, food and medicine shortages, despite fuel and electricity shortages, despite job losses and businesses over the whole UK going to the wall (blundering Boris did say “F*ck business” – on camera a couple of years ago) – presumably because they will personally profit in some way from this misery they are deliberately inflicting on innocent law-abiding men women and children. Despicable.
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10 Sept – Parliament prorogued against the wishes of our elected MPs, and against the wishes of most in the country. Boris Johnson sets new record for incompetence and ‘executive fiat’ (Mr Speaker Bercow) – Boris loses sixth vote in six days , setting a record! Parliament again rejected a snap election – hooray. The last vote Parliament took was to make the government publish Operation Yellowhammer – brought by Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General – there are some decent Tories left!
“Parliament also voted by 311 to 302 for Johnson to publish Operation Yellowhammer documents detailing the governmentās no-deal Brexit plans, after a leaked version from early August warned of possible food and medicine shortages.
“The motion, brought by former Tory MP Dominic Grieve, also directed Johnson to disclose messages relating to the suspension of parliament sent by his senior adviser, Dominic Cummings and various other aides on WhatsApp, Facebook, other social media and both their personal and professional phones. Grieve said he had information from public officials that such correspondence contained a āscandalā.
“But Downing Street sources suggested Johnsonās advisers would resort to legal action rather than hand over their communications. Any refusal to comply could put them and the government in contempt of parliament.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/10/brexit-chants-of-shame-as-suspension-of-parliament-descends-into-chaos
Mr Speaker Bercow will resign on 31 October – most people will miss him dreadfully, people didn’t always agree with him but in general he has been very fair and also very strong to stand up to the Tory diktats. I don’t know about the accusations of bullying – but I would imagine a job like that in modern politics would tend to make any incumbent a little terse and snippy!
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