British PM Boris Johnson met President Donald Trump at the Biarritz G7 Summit in France. (10 Downing St. photo)
Quite blatantly Boris Johnson, the unrepentant Brexiteer Prime Minister of Britain suspended the function of the UK Parliament, openly lying about the reasons for doing so. He really wants to silence the voice of the majority of MPs and therefore of the British people who oppose a no-deal Brexit. Instead, Boris slyly offered a number of other reasons than this.
Johnson is aware that the majority doesn’t want to leave the EU without a deal. Invariably, however, he has been routinely lying about everything related to Brexit facts and risks for more than three years. However, he duly expects, using a totally deceitful narrative, to win the next general election whenever it is held. Seemingly, there is a more or less large part of Brits who are ready to follow him on this slippery path.
Hating mainland Europe?
Boris and his impossible close followers like Jacob Rees-Mogg (a genuine fossil of the ultra conservative politicians of the 1930s) count on around a stubborn 30% of UK voters. These people hate mainland Europe and still believe Britain can again rule the waves, as the Brexitees tell them. In reality, it’s still the same old story about how the real ‘enemies of the people’ can use gross lies and a hate narrative – like the Hitlerites – to convince a good part of voters to catapult them to power.
The bitter truth is that a backward, nationalist and super conservative minority of voters do exist in the UK as in the US and in some other countries. It’s a similar political recipe Donald Trump used in 2016 to conquer the White House, being voted by less people than Hillary Clinton. He told lies and used a chauvinist, super conservative and xenophobic narrative about ‘making America great again’ and thus won the election. Then, Donald bathed the Wall Street money-sharks in trillions, the big businesses and the extremely rich, plus some wealthy ‘friends’.
Freezing democracy
Back to Britain, last Wednesday, Boris went as far as to shut down Parliament for five weeks, clearly because the majority of MPs strongly oppose his plan for a no-deal catastrophic Brexit. Obviously, Boris’ secretive sponsors want to get rid of their country’s international commitments relating to labor rights and social protection, not to say anything about the hardly won EU civil liberties.
Undoubtedly, the unholy alliance between Trump and other extreme right wing, populist politicians vies to poison Europe. To this end, Steven Bannon, the wholesaler of this xenophobic newly coined US political ideology, has landed in Europe. Such people actually hate democracy and its institutions.
A double goal
Coming back to the latest developments in Britain, Johnson has a double strategy. Apart from his objective of a no-deal Brexit he also aims at mobilizing a large enough part of UK voters, to support him win the next election. By shutting down Parliament for five weeks, he allows just a small time window of legislative time and work for the MPs to block the dreadful prospect of a no-deal Brexit. Even a no-confidence vote against the Johnson government may not stop the UK from leaving the EU without a deal on 31 October.
To be noted that in order for the Johnson government to be toppled a number of Conservative MPs have to vote against their party. Those Tories have already been told they won’t be included in the party’s election lists. So, in the next electoral confrontation Boris will boast that he single handed navigated Britain away from Europe in high imperial seas.
Uniting the opposition
In such a case, the election which may follow after the Brexit day of 31 October, will be a tight contest between the lovers of ‘Britain rules the waves’ and the …US versus the open minded political visions of those who prefer a pan-European partnership. The minor opposition parties which favour ‘remain’ have to form some kind of alliance in order to beat the Conservatives under Boris.
To make this alliance strong and effective, though, the major opposition Labor Party must join. The UK electoral system strongly favours the big political formations. For example, a small party despite having won 10% of the vote may not elect a single deputy. At the same time, a big party with around 30% can win a large majority in The Commons.
In any case, the political scenery in Britain will continue being in turmoil during the foreseeable future. The Brexit predicament has darkened the political horizon and has deeply divided the Brits. As many analysts say, it has stirred the soup bringing the sediments to the surface.
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