Boris Johnson kills Brexit

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is upset, humiliated, crushed, cornered and lost control of the political situation in the country. And so much so that he has no choice but to stay in line with what his opponents are demanding when blackmail - Brexit without a deal or early elections - did not work.

It is difficult to say, however, what he counted on, bringing to absurdity the irrepressible pressure and very rude methods of the Eurosceptics' desire to withdraw the kingdom from the EU. If the secret desire of the eccentric ex-Foreign Minister was to actually discredit this idea, then he certainly has already achieved this. Now it remains only to "blur". But it seems that other actors will be engaged in this.

Blow after blow

Each new day of the deepest political crisis in which Britain plunged, entangled in its relations with the European Union, brings sensation, if not several. On September 4, for example, Prime Minister Johnson “missed” several powerful blows at once.

First, the House of Commons passed a bill prohibiting any head of government from a “tough” Brexit without a deal. He explicitly instructs the prime minister in October to ask Brussels for a new postponement of Britain's exit from the EU until January 31, 2020, which Johnson previously called “meaningless” and categorically excluded. 327 deputies voted for this law in the third reading, against 299. It was a clear slap in the face to Boris.

Now the bill is subject to approval in the House of Lords, where, as it became clear that night, everything will be done as quickly as possible, because the obvious majority of the lords are against Brexit, and the Johnson government unexpectedly (Boris reconciled?) Recommended the minority not to put sticks in the wheels of this process. The House of Lords sat until late at night, examining and rejecting the numerous amendments by which the faithful Boris Tories tried to delay the adoption of the law. However, after midnight, a government spokesman in the upper house of parliament announced that it would remove objections to the law. It is expected that on Friday the bill will be adopted, after which it will return for a final vote in the House of Commons. There will also be no problems with the queen. And this is the second.

Thirdly, the House of Commons refused to hold early elections at a convenient time for Johnson after the Labor Party, who abstained from voting, opposed the early elections until the decision on the issue of preventing a “hard” Brexit was decided in principle. Johnson was supported by 298 deputies. 56 spoke out against the snap elections on October 15, when the prime minister wanted to hold them. However, for this proposal to be approved, 423 legislators - two-thirds of the deputies of the House of Commons should have supported it ...

How Johnson destroys the Tories

At the same time, Boris purged the parliamentary faction of the conservatives, having expelled a number of prominent members from the party who did not support his extremist position. Among the ruthlessly “cleansed” were Winston Churchill's grandson Nicholas Soames, one of Margaret Thatcher's associates, veteran Kenneth Clark, and other ex-finance minister Philip Hammond. This made an extremely painful impression on the Tories in general, and on the country.

And you brother?

And today Boris received a very painful blow below the waist - from his brother Joe Johnson, who for nine years was a minister in three conservative governments, and now, at the most critical moment, announced his resignation from both parliament and the government.

Moreover, Joe gave this the most unfavorable explanation for his brother: "In recent weeks, I have been torn between loyalty to my family and national interests - this is an insoluble situation, and it is time for other people to take my place as minister and member of parliament." In fact, he testified to the whole country that the interests of his family, that is, primarily his brother, and national interests are completely opposite things.

Another blow was dealt by the EU. The representative of the European Commission (EC), Mina Andreeva, has denied Johnson's statements that progress was made in the negotiations between London and Brussels regarding Brexit. She noted that in Brussels they had not received any offers from London at all.

Few people now believe, as one of the “rebels” said, Johnson “was preparing a terrific, wonderful agreement with the EU, which was blocked by vicious politicians on the continent and members of the House of Commons who do not understand the interests of the nation.”

How does Johnson kill Brexit?

These examples clearly show how Johnson kills the Conservative Party, which at one time supported Brexit, and discredits by its brutal methods and immense adventurism the very idea of ​​a break with the EU, which could soon put Britain on the brink of civil war. Churchill Soames’s 71-year-old grandson, for example, who had previously voted three times earlier for the “soft” Brexit variant proposed by former Prime Minister Theresa May, now claims that Johnson’s performance will provoke a sharp reduction in Britain’s international influence. According to him, "Britain’s weight in the world is rapidly falling, and I’m afraid that our positions on the world stage will weaken significantly." He noted that Johnson and his supporters voted three times against May’s version, and that this "repeated treachery served as a source of inspiration for many of us."

Indeed, having deprived the conservative, along with Ulster unionists of the “working majority” in the House of Commons, the long-standing Tory deputy Philip Lee silently stood up during Johnson's speech and sat among representatives of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party - to express his contempt for the head of the party and government and Brexit’s rejection was more unequivocal just impossible.

What to expect?

So, what should we expect now, except for the continuation of the collapse of the Conservative Party, whose parliamentary fraction will now be steadily reduced?

Will Johnson raise the issue of early elections after the appearance of a law banning Brexit without a deal in the coming days? In this case, will the Laborites agree to them? Will the prime minister try, with the help of some procedural tricks that remain at his disposal, to circumvent the law requiring two-thirds of the legislators to hold early elections, and not a simple majority of deputies? Will the opposition raise a vote of no confidence in Johnson, whose parliamentary faction is falling apart before our eyes? Will under these conditions, as Johnson planned, the work of parliament be suspended from September 9 to October 14?

We will find answers to these and other questions in the coming days. However, one thing is clear: if, in the context of the relatively wide popularity of the Brexit idea among the British people, there was a way to discredit and bury it, then there simply could not be better than the one that Boris implements. He kills this idea for sure and for a long time. And hardly stupid. Despite the constant and absolutely conscious outrage and clowning, he is not at all a fool. But then who? This is the most interesting question, which will be the most difficult to get the right answer.