Election on 14th October if MPs vote to make No Deal illegal tomorrow
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CONFLICT OF INTEREST?: U.K. PM's own brother quits parliament, torn between family loyalty and national interest
Reuters
Published:
September 5, 2019
Updated:
September 5, 2019 3:46 PM EDT
In this file photo taken on June 20, 2019 Conservative MP Jo Johnson, former minister and brother of leadership contender Boris Johnson, is seen at the Houses of Parliament in London on June 20, 2019. BEN STANSALL / AFP/Getty Images
WAKEFIELD — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to kick off what is in effect an election campaign casting parliament as the enemy of Brexit was overshadowed on Thursday when his younger brother quit the government, citing the national interest.
As the United Kingdom spins towards an election, Brexit remains up in the air more than three years after Britons voted to leave the bloc in a 2016 referendum. Options range from a turbulent ‘no-deal’ exit to abandoning the whole endeavour.
Ahead of a speech in Wakefield, northern England, where Johnson effectively began an informal election campaign, his own brother, Jo, resigned as a junior business minister and said he was stepping down as a lawmaker for their Conservative Party.
“In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest – it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles,” he tweeted.
The 47-year-old, who campaigned for Britain to remain a member of the European Union in the 2016 referendum while his older brother was the face of Vote Leave, has been in parliament since 2010, serving in several ministerial roles.
The move comes in a frenetic week for the premier, who said his brother had been “a brilliant, talented minister and a fantastic MP,” and that the decision would not have been easy.
After wresting control of the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, an alliance of opposition parties and rebels expelled from the Conservative Party voted to force him to seek a three-month delay to Brexit rather than leaving without a deal on Oct. 31, the date now set in law.
Asked after Thursday’s speech to police cadets in Wakefield whether he would ask for such a delay he said: “I’d rather be dead in a ditch.”
“TRUST THE PEOPLE”
Since taking office in July, Boris Johnson has tried to corral the Conservative Party, which is openly fighting over Brexit, behind his strategy of leaving the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal.
On Tuesday, he expelled 21 Conservative lawmakers from the party for failing to back his strategy, including Winston Churchill’s grandson and two former finance ministers.
Behind the sound and the fury of the immediate crisis, an election now beckons for a polarized country.
The main choices on offer are Johnson’s insistence on leaving the EU on Oct. 31, come what may, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s hard-left socialist vision, coupled with a promise of a fresh referendum with an option to stay in the EU.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who manages government business in the House of Commons, said parliament would be asked again on Monday, after the blocking bill becomes law, to approve a snap election. On Wednesday, lawmakers rejected Johnson’s request for an Oct. 15 poll.
The Brexit crisis has for three years overshadowed European Union affairs, eroded Britain’s reputation as a stable pillar of the West and seen sterling lunge back and forth in line with the probability of a ‘no-deal’ exit.
Asked if Brexit would happen on Oct. 31, Johnson’s belligerent senior adviser Dominic Cummings, a focus of many departing Conservative lawmakers’ grievances, told Reuters: “Trust the people.”
Former prime minister John Major called on Johnson to sack “political anarchist” Cummings, in a speech on Thursday.
U.K. PM Boris Johnson loses parliament majority after lawmaker defects to Liberal Democrats
France’s Macron congratulates Boris Johnson, as ex-minister warns ‘EU not for turning’
Boris Johnson booed as he meets Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon
ELECTION LOOMS
Opposition parties say they are in favour of an election in principle, but are debating whether or not to accept Johnson’s proposed date. Johnson has accused Corbyn of cowardice for not facilitating a snap poll.
At a meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in Downing Street on Thursday, Johnson quipped: “We’re not too keen on your chlorinated chicken – we have a gigantic chlorinated chicken of our own here on the opposition benches.”
The prospect that Britain will have to accept imports of chlorine-washed chicken from the United States in any trade deal between the two has become a symbol of what remainers say will be a weak negotiating position after Brexit.
Pence, who laughed, said the United States supported Britain’s decision to leave the EU.
He said later that Britain should take no lectures on how to conduct its affairs – a nod to U.S. President Barack Obama’s ill-fated warning in 2016 that Britain would go to the “back of the queue” for a trade deal if it left the EU.
The sense that the prospect of a ‘no-deal’ exit had receded pushed the pound 1.4% higher on Wednesday and it surged to a five-week high on Thursday, ending at $1.2317. UBS Global Wealth Management said sterling could rally to $1.30 if Brexit was delayed until January 2020 and an election was held after October.
An election before Brexit would allow Johnson, if he won, to repeal the blocking bill. The law will pass the upper house, the Lords, by Friday evening.
Diplomats said an election campaign would halt any Brexit talks with the EU and expressed frustration with the turmoil in British politics at such an important juncture in European history.
In particular, they said London had yet to make any meaningful proposals to address Johnson’s complaints about the divorce settlement that his predecessor Theresa May agreed with the EU but failed to get through parliament at home.
“The UK side continues to produce chaos and it is very hard to predict anything,” said one EU diplomat.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/co...-between-family-loyalty-and-national-interest
Reuters
Published:
September 5, 2019
Updated:
September 5, 2019 3:46 PM EDT
In this file photo taken on June 20, 2019 Conservative MP Jo Johnson, former minister and brother of leadership contender Boris Johnson, is seen at the Houses of Parliament in London on June 20, 2019. BEN STANSALL / AFP/Getty Images
WAKEFIELD — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to kick off what is in effect an election campaign casting parliament as the enemy of Brexit was overshadowed on Thursday when his younger brother quit the government, citing the national interest.
As the United Kingdom spins towards an election, Brexit remains up in the air more than three years after Britons voted to leave the bloc in a 2016 referendum. Options range from a turbulent ‘no-deal’ exit to abandoning the whole endeavour.
Ahead of a speech in Wakefield, northern England, where Johnson effectively began an informal election campaign, his own brother, Jo, resigned as a junior business minister and said he was stepping down as a lawmaker for their Conservative Party.
“In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest – it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles,” he tweeted.
The 47-year-old, who campaigned for Britain to remain a member of the European Union in the 2016 referendum while his older brother was the face of Vote Leave, has been in parliament since 2010, serving in several ministerial roles.
The move comes in a frenetic week for the premier, who said his brother had been “a brilliant, talented minister and a fantastic MP,” and that the decision would not have been easy.
After wresting control of the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, an alliance of opposition parties and rebels expelled from the Conservative Party voted to force him to seek a three-month delay to Brexit rather than leaving without a deal on Oct. 31, the date now set in law.
Asked after Thursday’s speech to police cadets in Wakefield whether he would ask for such a delay he said: “I’d rather be dead in a ditch.”
“TRUST THE PEOPLE”
Since taking office in July, Boris Johnson has tried to corral the Conservative Party, which is openly fighting over Brexit, behind his strategy of leaving the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal.
On Tuesday, he expelled 21 Conservative lawmakers from the party for failing to back his strategy, including Winston Churchill’s grandson and two former finance ministers.
Behind the sound and the fury of the immediate crisis, an election now beckons for a polarized country.
The main choices on offer are Johnson’s insistence on leaving the EU on Oct. 31, come what may, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s hard-left socialist vision, coupled with a promise of a fresh referendum with an option to stay in the EU.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who manages government business in the House of Commons, said parliament would be asked again on Monday, after the blocking bill becomes law, to approve a snap election. On Wednesday, lawmakers rejected Johnson’s request for an Oct. 15 poll.
The Brexit crisis has for three years overshadowed European Union affairs, eroded Britain’s reputation as a stable pillar of the West and seen sterling lunge back and forth in line with the probability of a ‘no-deal’ exit.
Asked if Brexit would happen on Oct. 31, Johnson’s belligerent senior adviser Dominic Cummings, a focus of many departing Conservative lawmakers’ grievances, told Reuters: “Trust the people.”
Former prime minister John Major called on Johnson to sack “political anarchist” Cummings, in a speech on Thursday.
U.K. PM Boris Johnson loses parliament majority after lawmaker defects to Liberal Democrats
France’s Macron congratulates Boris Johnson, as ex-minister warns ‘EU not for turning’
Boris Johnson booed as he meets Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon
ELECTION LOOMS
Opposition parties say they are in favour of an election in principle, but are debating whether or not to accept Johnson’s proposed date. Johnson has accused Corbyn of cowardice for not facilitating a snap poll.
At a meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in Downing Street on Thursday, Johnson quipped: “We’re not too keen on your chlorinated chicken – we have a gigantic chlorinated chicken of our own here on the opposition benches.”
The prospect that Britain will have to accept imports of chlorine-washed chicken from the United States in any trade deal between the two has become a symbol of what remainers say will be a weak negotiating position after Brexit.
Pence, who laughed, said the United States supported Britain’s decision to leave the EU.
He said later that Britain should take no lectures on how to conduct its affairs – a nod to U.S. President Barack Obama’s ill-fated warning in 2016 that Britain would go to the “back of the queue” for a trade deal if it left the EU.
The sense that the prospect of a ‘no-deal’ exit had receded pushed the pound 1.4% higher on Wednesday and it surged to a five-week high on Thursday, ending at $1.2317. UBS Global Wealth Management said sterling could rally to $1.30 if Brexit was delayed until January 2020 and an election was held after October.
An election before Brexit would allow Johnson, if he won, to repeal the blocking bill. The law will pass the upper house, the Lords, by Friday evening.
Diplomats said an election campaign would halt any Brexit talks with the EU and expressed frustration with the turmoil in British politics at such an important juncture in European history.
In particular, they said London had yet to make any meaningful proposals to address Johnson’s complaints about the divorce settlement that his predecessor Theresa May agreed with the EU but failed to get through parliament at home.
“The UK side continues to produce chaos and it is very hard to predict anything,” said one EU diplomat.
democracy is not rigid. Many who voted in the referendum did not clearly understand what they were voting for........and people.......can change their minds.........after a rethink. Democracy is flexible.....
They should have had another referendum when folks began to question the whole thing.
Might be an idea to have one before BoJo goes off half cocked.......
How could you say that about your PM's own brother! I am shocked, shocked I tell you!
...
Seriously though, his brother, from what I understand, supports him on much EXCEPT how he's handling Brexit.
Seems like the big B is the issue for a lot of people.
The stamp is deep .The junior minister surely qualifies for a lucrative pension , I am sure he is alright .
Yeah, we've heard all these arguments before about the 17.4 million who voted Leave - "They're thick and didn't really know what they voted for."
The 17.4 million DID know what they were voting for - they voted tto leave the EU - so stop insulting their intelligence.
So what do you propose? And EU referendum every few years? And what if we voted Leave one year, Remain the next, then Leave the next, then Remain the next? It'd be f*cking stupid and impractical. Just think about what you're saying.
And during the referendum campaign, we were all given Government leaflets in the mail telling us that the referendum will be a "once in a generation decision" and that "the Government will implement what you decide."
So what?
Do you propose that Boris suddenly overturns the biggest democratic decision ever made in the UK and destroy British democracy just because his brother is a whingeing Remoaner crybaby?
As for Jo Johnson, he represents a Leave constituency. His Orpington constituency in London voted 57.54% for Leave - higher than the national average.
He also once called Leave voters thick:
"Too many people were feeling they are not sharing equally in the benefits of growth.
"Too many people basically feeling left behind.
"There was a correlation between levels of university attendance and a propensity to vote Brexit.
"There was a correlation between levels of education generally and a likelihood for voting for Brexit.
"Which means there's a huge opportunity for universities to play the part they want to play in widening participation and ensuring that more people, particularly from disadvantaged background, get a chance to go to university and share in the benefits that higher education can bring."
So my reckoning is that Jo Johnson's constituents will be glad he's quitting. They did, after all, elect him on a mandate to deliver the Brexit that they voted for. And yet here is calling his own constituents stupid and saying he doesn't want to deliver Brexit.
He was a elected to deliver Brexit. Yet he doesn't want to do that.
He's better off gone. I'm sure his constituents would agree.
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Boris Johnson is urged to become a 'Brexit martyr' after saying he could break the law to force no deal as he writes to Tory members vowing never to ask for an extension amid rumours he could quit
The Prime Minister said he was only bound 'in theory' by a law which is expected to receive Royal Assent on Monday, taking a No Deal Brexit off the table (pictured: the PM in Scotland, left and with his girlfriend Carrie Symonds, centre; Iain Duncan Smith, top right; Jeremy Corbyn, bottom right). Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith encouraged Mr Johnson, saying he would be 'martyred' if he chose to break the law and risk a possible prison sentence for contempt of Parliament. Mr Duncan Smith said: 'This is about Parliament versus the people. Boris Johnson is on the side of the people, who voted to leave the EU. The people are sovereign because they elect Parliament. But Parliament wants to stop the will of the people.'
The Prime Minister said he was only bound 'in theory' by a law which is expected to receive Royal Assent on Monday, taking a No Deal Brexit off the table (pictured: the PM in Scotland, left and with his girlfriend Carrie Symonds, centre; Iain Duncan Smith, top right; Jeremy Corbyn, bottom right). Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith encouraged Mr Johnson, saying he would be 'martyred' if he chose to break the law and risk a possible prison sentence for contempt of Parliament. Mr Duncan Smith said: 'This is about Parliament versus the people. Boris Johnson is on the side of the people, who voted to leave the EU. The people are sovereign because they elect Parliament. But Parliament wants to stop the will of the people.'
Fury of forgotten voters: Almost half back Boris Johnson on early election and most want No-Deal rather than Jeremy Corbyn, poll shows - as Labour 'stitch up' scuppers PM's plans
Boris Johnson remains the most popular choice for prime minister, with a 20-point lead over Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - who came in behind those who gave the answer 'don't know'. In addition, more people agreed with Mr Johnson's decision to expel 21 Tory MPs who voted with Labour against a No Deal Brexit this week. In a surprise result, Mr Johnson was found to be more trusted on the NHS than Mr Corbyn, despite the health service traditionally seen as the preserve of Labour. Numbers aside, a 'stitch-up' between Mr Corbyn and Remain parties last night scuppered Boris Johnson's bid for a snap election. Labour, the Lib Dems and Scots and Welsh nationalists have agreed to block the public going to the polls before October 31.
Boris Johnson remains the most popular choice for prime minister, with a 20-point lead over Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - who came in behind those who gave the answer 'don't know'. In addition, more people agreed with Mr Johnson's decision to expel 21 Tory MPs who voted with Labour against a No Deal Brexit this week. In a surprise result, Mr Johnson was found to be more trusted on the NHS than Mr Corbyn, despite the health service traditionally seen as the preserve of Labour. Numbers aside, a 'stitch-up' between Mr Corbyn and Remain parties last night scuppered Boris Johnson's bid for a snap election. Labour, the Lib Dems and Scots and Welsh nationalists have agreed to block the public going to the polls before October 31.
That right there shows your lack of intelligence.
Is he a "Remoaner" though, as you say? Cause, his only issue is in HOW Boris is doing this, not THAT he's doing it...
So after looking into the man, I see why you don't like him.
He's got sense.
A good excuse in your opinion to despise the man for sure!
Nah. The opposite is true.
Yes.
So he represents a constituency that voted Leave. He was elected by his Leave-voting constituents on a mandate to take Britain out of the EU. As soon as he was elected, he starts calling his voters thick and stupid and says that he wants to do the opposite of what he was voted, democratically, to do. And you say that he's being sensible?
It would have been interesting to see how "sensible" his decision was had he stuck around until the next General Election and had to face the wrath of his voters. He wouldn't have looked so sensible when his voters booted him out of office.
Of course, he's quit now like a coward now because he's too scared to face the voters, like most Remainer MPs.
YES, I see you have no reports that HE may be a pedo too, like the prince you luv, so you hate him too, just like you hate all those that hate pedoes.
LOL, what an arrogant weener YOU are!
UPDATE: Weiner admits to it all, says he won't resign!
https://reason.com/2011/06/06/probably-about-time-to-say-goo/
Your good buddy weener here, now that's an example of an actual arrogant twat!
Oh, its so cute when it Hoids!!!
Hooooooid! Hoooooooid! Hoooooooid
It's hoid!!! Everyone HIDE!!!!
You have to laugh at the thought processes of liberals.
"I think Boris Johnson is an arrogant twat!"
"Why do you think that?"
"Because the British people voted in a referendum and he wants to implement what they voted for! This is outrageous! It's f£cking arrogant!"
Democracy and how it works is just completely lost on such people.
"I think Boris Johnson is an arrogant twat!"
"Why do you think that?"
"Because the British people voted in a referendum and he wants to implement what they voted for! This is outrageous! It's f£cking arrogant!"
Democracy and how it works is just completely lost on such people.
Nazi b*tches in the cabin man, still at it after all these years. They been hoiding in the closets.