Le Brexit

So my US friends I’m going to try and explain the shambles that is the British parliament. I’m sure my UK friends will correct any mistakes I make. Here goes:

1. The UK is set to leave the EU on Oct 31 whether there is a deal or not

2. Boris Johnson says he wants a deal with the EU but has made NO new proposals as to how the Irish border question can be resolved

3. Johnson has only demanded that the Backstop is removed from the withdrawal agreement which the EU have repeatedly said they won’t do (if there is no deal then there will have to be a return to a hard border which will jeopardize the Good Friday agreement)

So the only conclusion of the above three facts is that Johnson doesn’t want a deal and wants to take the UK out without a deal.

4. Having talked many times about the sovereignty of Parliament, Parliament have now decided to bring a law in which will prevent the UK leaving without a deal.

5. Johnson lost 3 separate Parliamentary votes yesterday in Parliament as a result of which he banished (‘removed the whip’) from 21 Tory MPs including former cabinet Ministers, and people who have served as good MPs for 40 years.

6. 2 Tories have defected from the Tory Party and this morning his own brother resigned as Minister and MP putting ‘national interest above family loyalty’

7. The Tories now have no majority and are in charge of a minority government which means they can’t pass anything in Parliament even with the support of the DUP

8. Johnson has prorogued Parliament for 5 weeks on the grounds that he wants to prepare for the Queens Speech on Oct 14 setting out his domestic agenda

9. The usual time for such a suspension of Parliament is 7 days - 3 weeks

10. His critics say that the suspension means that Parliament can’t sit for 5 weeks thus making everything too tight before Oct 31 to stop a no deal. Hence the law rushed through yesterday in 3 votes.

11. The new law says that if Johnson doesn’t get a deal when he goes to Brussels on Oct 17 then he MUST ask for an extension to the Brexit deadline and can NOT take the UK out of Europe without a deal

12. Meanwhile Johnson wants a General Election on October 15.

13. He needs a two thirds majority of Parliament to agree to it and they didn’t so he lost that vote last night as well.

14. The opposition parties say that the new law has to be on the statute books before they will agree to an election

15. The new law is being rushed through the House of Lords so that on Monday Johnson can try again to get an election on October 15

16. Opposition parties are unlikely to agree to this because if the Tories get in after an election people think that Boris will just overturn the new law and take us out without a deal.

17. The opposition parties say they will only agree to an election to be held AFTER Oct 31 after Johnson has asked for, and got, an extension

I have tried to keep to the facts here. I will leave my opinions on how Cameron, May and Johnson have completely shafted the British people; on how totally divided the UK has become; on the honesty and integrity or otherwise of our current Prime Minister; and on what might happen in a General Election... til another post.

Un post de Graldine Bown our clever One