Finally, Parliament gets treated with the contempt it richly deserves.
And now more than ever, we will need the Brexit Party to keep a political knife to Boris Johnson’s throat, or the most likely last minute result will be a sell-out ‘deal’ that delivers the utterly appalling Withdrawal Agreement (“Whether you’re a Brexiteer or Remainer, this is a deal that a nation signs only after having been defeated at war. This is not a deal fit for purpose for any sovereign country.”), probably minus the distraction of the backstop.
And… the Queen has signed it!
I think you’ll find that was, “Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. You were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressed, are yourselves become the greatest grievance. In the name of God, fuck off!”
Youtube version of that video with Yanis Varoufakis: https://youtu.be/VkIJKPMN9KU?t=742 (“a deal that a nation signs only after…”)
May’s WA was neither a deal, nor a treaty (ratified or not), it was a document of capitulation that would have rendered the UK as a vassal state of the EU for the remainder of the (probably short) life of that “emergent Superpower”.
All talk of prorogation between September and November to enable BRExit has always seemed extreme and unlikely, what Boris has done today is not that, although it is a shot across the bows, since it has reminded Parliament that it is the government that sets the agenda.
The Remoaners wish to “seize the parliamentary agenda” but time is against them, which was why they seemed intent on running parliament through the traditional conference season recess (no doubt with some bit of theatre specifically timed for Boris’ conference speech)
By proroguing parliament it nips this in the bud and forces the Remoaners to act quicker than they would have liked. A vote of no confidence before the prorogation now seems more likely than “legislative jiggery-pokery” designed to frustrate BRExit.
Still not sure how the dice are going to land come October 31st…
I suspect that the point is.that Boris can write a Queen’s speech that will appeal to the people, or enough of them to win a majority, and appall the opposition. It will basically be his election manifesto. The opposition will either slink away with its tail between its legs, or force a general election on terms of Boris’s choosing. I suspect Boris would prefer the latter.
@Pat – A general election without having left the EU would be a risky matter as far as we Brexiteers are concerned, one post-BRExit in November less so. If Boris expects us to vote for the Tories rather than The Brexit Party then he needs to deliver on BRExit itself, either as a “No Deal” exit on WTO terms or some form of limited trade deal and not Treason May’s WA capitulation.
I’ll happily vote for Boris and even the Tories if they deliver, otherwise I’ll be voting for Farage and The Brexit Party. Not because I like either of them, but because we must have a government that will both deliver on BRExit and deal with the aftermath in a way which strengthens Britain, not weakens it.
The Tories are very definitely operating on sufferance only at this point. Loyal voters are eyeing the Brexit Party beadily. Long time members are trying to de-select Remainer MPs.
By and large I was a reliable voter for them, but not in the local council elections and not in the recent EU election. I don’t think I can forgive my current Tory MP for voting for Theresa’s surrender document on third reading, just because I think you have to genuinely hate Britain and British people to even consider it, party politics be damned.
If Dominic Cummings finishes his overhaul, I might look again, but they are gonna have to really really offer me policies I want, more warmed over Cameronian-Blairite shite just isn’t good enough. I would accept an awful lot of pain to deny traitors their will…. For Corbyn to do any real socialism, he needs us out of the EU.
John Galt: “… we must have a government that will both deliver on BRExit and deal with the aftermath in a way which strengthens Britain, not weakens it.”
The aftermath is the opportunity — and the risk, if the UK slumps back into the same bickering between incompetent Tories & Labour which characterized the pre-EU UK. And, astonishingly, the aftermath is at present almost a blank sheet.
To riff off of some recent comments by Mark Steyn, Brexit will happen because Brexiteers have a great advantage — they are united; their opponents are not.
However, Brexiteers should not forget that they are a minority, whether that minority is the 37% of UK citizens who voted Leave or the less than 15% of UK citizens who bothered to vote for The Brexit Party in the recent European elections. Most gamblers would have to bet that the chances of the metropolitan Tory/Labour Establishment making the most of post-separation opportunities are small — which will feed into some inevitable Buyer’s Regret among the majority of UK citizens who are not committed Brexiteers.
Likely forecast — Tories will win the next election. However, Boris is a finger-in-the-wind kind of guy, not a focused Trump; his Conservative MPs will be mostly unprincipled self-seekers. Consequently, things will not go well, and the Tories will be wiped out in the election after that.
There really is a need for the Brexit Party or its descendant to ensure a successful ‘aftermath’.
If Boris does the job cleanly, I will hold my nose, try not to gag, and vote Tory again. But if I do not get *exactly* what I want (No Deal/WTO) it will be Brexit Party until the Tories are burned to the ground & their ashes are duly pissed on. It really is that simple.