U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is currently meeting with European leaders in an effort to reach a Brexit deal by the current October 31 deadline. On June 23, 2016, the British electorate voted to leave the European Union and reclaim the country’s sovereignty over laws, trade, and immigration, but the divorce decree still hasn’t been signed. Although there is some equivocation, grandstanding EU officials, so far, seem less than receptive to reopening the negotiations.
In contrast to what they said in the June 2017 national election campaign, many arrogant, out-of-touch, elitist politicians in both the Conservative and Labor Parties have failed to deliver a “proper Brexit” to keep faith with the British public.
Grassroots Conservatives plus millions of Labor voters (equivalent to Reagan or Trump Democrats) are pro-Brexit Leavers, while parliament is dominated by Remainers.
Johnson ascended to Conservative Party leader and, by default, the premiership mainly because he pledged to implement the Brexit referendum.
Earlier this week, former London Mayor Johnson generated concern among Brexiteers by insisting that the so-called Irish backstop be removed from the withdrawal agreement “negotiated” by his predecessor Theresa May and her team.
Notes Westmonster: “Prime Minister Boris Johnson has used a visit to Berlin to tell German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the European Union that he wants to move forward with Theresa May’s deal minis the backstop. Oh dear…May’s deal should be dead in the water – but it looks like Boris is up for reviving it.”
Johnson omitted mentioning getting out of the customs union and the single market, which are among the key motivators for Brexit. This lack of clarity suggested that Brexit in Name Only 2.0 could be on the horizon.
From the BBC:
“In his first overseas visit to a fellow leader, Mr Johnson is meeting Mrs Merkel after he told the EU the backstop – which aims to prevent a hard Irish border after Brexit – must be ditched if a no-deal exit was to be avoided.
“He will meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, before attending the G7 summit on Saturday alongside other leaders including US President Donald Trump.
“The EU has repeatedly said the withdrawal deal negotiated by former PM Theresa May, which includes the backstop, cannot be renegotiated….
“The prime minister has insisted he wants the UK to leave the EU with a renegotiated withdrawal deal, but the UK must leave on 31 October ‘do or die’.
“If implemented, the backstop would see Northern Ireland staying aligned to some rules of the EU single market, should the UK and the EU not agree a trade deal after Brexit. It would also see the UK stay in a single customs territory with the EU, and align with current and future EU rules on competition and state aid.
“These arrangements would apply until both the EU and UK agreed they were no longer necessary. Brexit supporters fear this could leave the UK tied to the EU indefinitely. “
Halloween Do or Die
Johnson has vowed to leave the EU by Halloween no matter what and that the ruling Conservative Party would kick the bucket if it tried to kick the can with another extension. He also said said that while he prefers to reach an agreement with the EU, he is willing to leave with or without a deal.
The latter possibility, activating World Trade Organization rules, triggers fear-mongering, hysterical Europhiles like it’s Y2K all over again.
A WTO Brexit would allow the U.K. to strike trade deals with individual countries, including the U.S.
Meanwhile, according to polling data, the British public seems to be very receptive to a no-deal Brexit.
Is a Stitch-Up Coming?
Writing in the London Telegraph on Tuesday, Brexit leader Nigel Farage indicated that he is losing faith in Boris Johnson and that Johnson and the EU might be cobble together a “stitch up” (which is British lingo for a crooked scheme that would amount to a pretend Brexit):
“It was good while it lasted. For several weeks, Boris Johnson gave the impression of being a true Brexiteer – so much so that some people even began to ask: “What is the point of the Brexit Party?”
“Most no-dealers in the country cheered every statement the Prime Minister made and this week the Government even announced that free movement of people would end on October 31. At last, it seemed, the referendum vote was being acted upon.
“But don’t be fooled by the PR blitz. For this week, in his four-page letter to Donald Tusk, the EU Council President, we have also seen the other Boris Johnson; the man who, in March, voted for the Withdrawal Agreement and the Northern Ireland backstop at the third time of asking. Some might say this is the ‘real’ Johnson.
“In his letter, Johnson says securing a ‘deal’ is his ‘highest priority’. Rather than leaving the EU on October 31, it looks as though Johnson wants Britain to enter into a transition period on that day. This, for him, is his ‘highest priority’.
“Furthermore, surely the most disappointing part of his “Dear Donald” letter is his failure to mention leaving the EU without a deal. But if you don’t issue a threat, why would the other side take you seriously?
“Johnson implies that if the backstop was removed in its current form, the Withdrawal Agreement would pass through the House of Commons with his support. Yet even without the backstop, this would be the worst negotiated deal in British history. And any further hopes that may be offered in the Political Declaration would not need to be honoured by the other side…
“If Johnson and the EU were able to produce a new Withdrawal Agreement, it is not yet certain that Parliament would pass this as amended. But if it did pass, it would be the very worst form of Brexit for everybody – BRINO (Brexit In Name Only). It would lead to years of acrimony with the EU.
“Many of my most loyal and long-serving supporters and donors have been very impressed with the start that Johnson has made. I, too, could not fault much of his language and new tough guy image. But I have always had in the back of my mind a nagging doubt. The same Boris Johnson who wrote in these pages that Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement would lead to Britain becoming a vassal state did, after all, end up voting for just that back in March.
“I also wonder what another Donald – Donald Trump – makes of Johnson’s letter. When the G7 gathers in Biarritz this weekend, the Prime Minister will find the President and his colleagues are eager to strike a new all-encompassing trade deal straight away. In fact, the Americans are so flexible, this deal could even be agreed sector by sector, perhaps beginning by the end of the year.
“But if Britain is stuck in a Withdrawal Agreement and then enters into a lengthy transition period, any trade deal with America would not be possible until the end of Trump’s second term. I doubt he would be very impressed. “
Promises, Promises
Theresa May insisted more than 100 times that Brexit would happen on March 29, 2019, before ultimately extending it to October 31.
If Johnson fails and/or sells out the British people to the EU with a soft, May-like Brexit, the Conservative Party (a.k.a. the Conservative in Name Only party) there could be doomed.
The fact that May dragged her feet until March 29, 2017 to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty — that started the two-year divorce process — was a bad sign.
Despite all the subsequent backsliding, about 75 percent of Members of Parliament (MPs) voted for Article 50, however.
As it stands now, Article 50 constitutes the law of the land and mandates that the U.K. leave with or without a deal.
A Fundamental Breakdown of Democracy
On his LBC radio show last Sunday, Farage made this observation about the ongoing impasse:
“Article 50 was very clear; you either leave with a deal or you leave with no deal. Mrs. May came back with this wretched treaty, the worst deal in history. Parliament rejected it three times, and if the EU are not prepared to budge in any way – which looks to me to be the position – isn’t it logical given that nearly 500 MPs voted, for us to just to leave…I would like to think that what I proved in six very short weeks earlier on this year, with founding the Brexit Party, fighting the European election, not just winning it, but getting 50 percent more votes than our nearest rivals. I think I proved that there is an appetite in this country to get this delivered and to get it done….if we don’t leave on the 31st of October, it is an absolutely fundamental breakdown of trust between the people of this country and those that govern us.”
Despite being dominated by anti-Brexit Remainers (or “Remoaners”), the U.K. parliament in London’s Westminster enclave, the House of Commons, three times, for different reasons rejected May’s withdrawal agreement, a.k.a. Brexit in Name Only as noted above.
Despite her country’s strong economy, May and her cabal gave up all the U.K.’s leverage and basically capitulated to every EU demand, leaving the country under her plan shackled to the EU’s heavy handed rulebook and bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy.
Elections Sooner Rather than Later?
The Conservatives only control parliament by one seat. Against that backdrop, a cross-party Remainer coalition have vowed to bring down the government if Johnson attempts to orchestrate a no-deal Brexit.
In the U.K., the “government” is essentially the prime minister’s cabinet consisting of MPs who simultaneously oversee the executive branch. A collapse of the Johnson government could lead to a snap election rather than the formally scheduled May 2022 balloting.
The avuncular and charismatic Johnson seems to have substantially improved the Conservative market share so another election may strengthen his hand provided he is able to deliver a clean Brexit.
If not, a large amount of voters could switch to the Brexit Party. In the U.K.’s multi-party “first-past-the-post” system, voters in that scenario sticking with the Conservatives in some constituencies could wind up inadvertently electing a far-left Labor candidate. In the next general election whenever it occurs, the Brexit Party plans to field candidates in all 650 parliamentary constituencies.
Remainers, who have demanded a second referendum, have also floated the idea of a national unity government, one that defines unity as excluding all pro-Brexit MPs.
Marxist, anti-Semite Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would theoretically lead this “temporary” government.
While Labor is trending Remain, Corbyn spent most of his career being anti-EU. He has evidently has abandoned those principles for personal ambition.
The Remainers/Remoaners apparently think it is fine for a candidate to get elected to parliament by just one vote, but a 52 percent Leave outcome (17.4 million voters) in the Brexit referendum is not good enough.
It should come as no surprise that the London-centric, globalist media and its version of the Deep State love the EU and does all they can to promote and stoke up Project Fear. It’s similar to how the political and media establishment here opposes President Trump’s efforts to protect the American worker in his quest to reform unfair, one-sided trade deals into which previous administrations have entered.
Parenthetically, although Boris Johnson has a reputation of being disorganized, news reports suggest that he is running a tight ship behind the scenes through his chief aide Dominic Cummings.
[Featured image credit: Stux/Pixabay]