Cohen writes: "Boris Johnson, the incoming British prime minister, is a classical scholar."
Who never learned the meaning of "gravitas."
22
Putin loves the fracturing of the West and is its principle supporter.
Brexit, while popular, is also part of Russia's ongoing covert propaganda campaign playing out in the U.S., Britain, and other EU countries. We can't look at these things in isolation.
660
@Seattle "Putin loves the fracturing of the West and is its principle supporter." So does Trump in his ignorance and everlasting ignominy.
45
@Mark Lobel
It is really Trump or just Trump doing what Putin requests so he can build his Mosow hotel?
30
@Seattle
Putin, Murdoch and an axis of others are still underrated and misunderstood as to their effectiveness and goals.
Come on media! Illuminate the threat please.
18
Never read a better article about Boris Johnson before. It's sad to see the next PM of UK is a man without convictions, without past accomplishments, without courage. Even Jacob Rees-Mogg would be a better alternative.
203
@Lancaster
"Even Jacob Rees-Mogg would be a better alternative."
Errrr....no.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, head of the European "Research" Group, is the equal to Johnson in lacking convictions, accomplishments and courage. Moreover, they each have constructed their own public persona, or "schtick".
44
@Lancaster
Moggy, really? Has it come to this?
13
I would rather have Johnson then Mogg. Johnson could back out on the last second, Mogg wouldn’t since it would benefit his hedge fund.
21
I’m happy for Johnson, even happier for Britain.
Brexit means Brexit indeed, now let’s get on with it. No country in the European Union has done more harm to it than Britain, and I delight in this just comeuppance.
Britain has consistently opposed all that is good in Europe, like common social policies (as in for workers, citizens, the middle class), and carried water for the most awful propositions, like expansion to the East when those countries were clearly unready, or to Turkey (the same British who supported its accession in Brussels campaigned on fears of its accession in Britain in support of Brexit).
Britain has always supported the most hated aspects of the EU, the opaque trade agreements, the detached free-market dogmas and austerity. The modern European Union—a so-called bureaucratic nightmare—is very much so by British design, as Britain fought against a common defense policy, a common and pan-European elected political leadership, and a common social safety net.
Britain has even acted as an American Trojan Horse, as all of us who remember Britain’s jockeying in the East for the “Coalition of the Willing” know all too well, or its opposition to any European social and defense policies that runs counter to America’s interests.
Finally, the diseased chickens have come to roost. This all couldn’t be happening to a better country.
It was a mistake to let Britain in, I just wish they’ll finally commit to getting out.
763
@Un Laïcard We were the finest of Europeans. Directives that came down from Brussels were enforced with a zeal. We sent our navy against our fishermen. When the EU expanded to the east we opened our borders immediately, unlike some I could mention. All rulings from the European Court of Justice were complied with. You're gonna miss us.
54
@Un Laïcard
This is all essentially true. However, it is the doing of the political class. A great many of the public do not agree with their machinations, and do believe in the European Project.
Donald Tusk recognised this when after seeing the million people march in London for remaining in the EU and for a second vote, and 6 million sign a government petition to revoke article 50, he noted that these people (myself among them!) have been abandoned by our politicians, and that so long as we are members of the EU we must be represented there because, as he said "they are Europeans".
141
@Un Laïcard
Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, in spite of striking differences in their intellects, have two things in common: very little interest in telling the truth and very little interest in expressing gratitude to anyone for past favors.
Johnson and Trump seem to share these two quirks of character with many of the French.
24
The lamest ask that a losing side can make after anything, whether it's a war, a chess match, football game, or an election, is a do-over.
2
Or he could . . . , as any human . . . , actually DO some good for his country.
What am I saying ?!? On these pages, only the well-coiffed and well-approved deserve any benefit of doubt.
4
The United States has never held a national plebiscite. It almost certainly never will. The founders knew their history of failed republics. For Plato and Aristotle, the corruption and collapse of democracy was guaranteed by empowering the unconstrained “voice of the people.”
The U.K. experience with the Brexit plebiscite confirms the Greek political philosophers and may repeat the failure of Athenian democracy.
Parliament, the Queen , British political parties and , indeed, the British People all have contributed to the immanent death of their parliamentary system of governance. There can be no new parliamentary solution. If one were possible, it would have already have been found.
England’s only hope to avoid complete dissolution of its united kingdom is to disavow the fatal Brexit plebiscite, forswear future plebiscites as a suicidal solution to hung parliaments, dissolve the current parliament and declare new elections where all the parties place preservation of the “Union” higher than the manifest impossibility of a smooth Brexit.
Any politician who claims England can fulfill the Brexit mandate and preserve the United Kingdom is either a liar or a fool.
12
Representative democracy has long been suborned by the rich and the corporations. Finally technology has given the people real time awareness of this betrayal as well as the means to rise up and organize opposition.
Not that the new technology is leads correct solutions; we elected 'Don the Con' Trump and UK picked Johnson also a Con Artist.
We certainly living in interesting times. Maybe too exciting!!
2
Britain has been since Thatcher have always been on the verge of some form of collapse.
Boris, go ahead... make their day.
They've been waiting for you for a long while.
As for EU, they are actually thankful Britain will take itself away. Britain needs EU, but it is not vice versa.
And if Brexit goes through, rest assure then Sturgeon would call in the separation vote. Scotland has progressed since becoming member of EU and it has no historical, political or emotional reasons to remain with England in its misery.
9
It is nearly certain there will be another referendum on Brexit because the alternatives (Pandora or Heracles) are too harsh even for a Narcissist. A No-Deal exit (Pandora) opens Britain to a painful number of crises, and calling a new election (Heracles) is suicide for the Tories.
2
The photo of Boris Johnson accompanying this column is exactly Benny Hill, circa 1975 - the difference is that Benny Hill was intending to be ridiculous.
7
I have a very general comment, that applies to Brexit, but also to any decision associated with splitting/creating new countries.
I believe the change should never be decided by simple majority vote. The implications are much to large. Such a change should require 55%, maybe 60% affirmation.
And then - the vote must be repeated and reaffirmed one year later. I have no strong opinion as to whether this second vote should require the percentage of the first, as it is just an affirmation of the first vote. Perhaps a simple minority is sufficient.
8
Mr. Johnson is a moral windsock. Best description I've heard yet. Good luck Boris, you're going to need it.
1
The parallels between Boris' behavior and that of the British decision makers' follies leading to the loss of the 13 colonies is striking. See Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly. The average citizen in the UK is very poorly served by the upper class - lazy, ignorant of the facts and just plain incompetent.
10
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. He chooses to call himself Boris. I choose to call him de Pfeffel.
7
A second referendum will be as inane as the first one was. An election is needed with very clear positions taken by all the parties on the European question, then the will of the House will decide.
4
There’s an important difference between Boris and Trump: Boris can be coached and is willing to play along. I suspect that we may see a deal with the EU to avoid a hard Brexit in the coming weeks. Boris hasn’t the intelligence to broker a deal, but the Tories can do that behind the scenes. All that matters is that Boris, the poster boy for Brexit, be the one to proffer the deal publicly. Boris’ advocacy for a deal will likely convince a lot of hardliners who would never cooperate with May to sign on so that the it can pass, if only by a few votes. These hardliners will never accuse the affable Boris of selling out, just as no one could accuse Nixon of being soft on Communism when he normalized relations with the PRC and endorsed the One-China Policy.
I don’t know why you claim that Corbyn’s Labour Party is “awful.” Corbyn has spent his career advocating for ordinary people. Such comments reflect the same kind of false-equivalency nonsense that obstructs meaningful analysis of politics here in the U.S.
5
Putin must be overjoyed.
First, the erosion of democracy and the rule of law in the US under the useful idiot Trump.
Now, the erosion of the EU and the probability of the dismantling of the British economy is cause for Russian celebration and extra rounds of vodka to all the hackers and conspirators.
Putin is reveling in his triumph which has been accomplished so cheaply and without firing a shot.
So helpful to have bombastic morons like Trump and BoJo presiding over the demise of western democracies.
15
My solution is to have England leave the UK, and the capital moved to Edinburgh, from which brexit is revoked. Scotland and NIreland remain in the EU, and the English can get on with their nasty rightwing project.
14
Nigel Farange has had an odd hand in Brexit and in dealing with former AG Sessions and the cruel Mr. Miller. Johnson and Trump have been played well at opportunistic times - but for whom, really?
I can only imagine the private conversation between the Queen and PM Johnson regarding doing the right thing for the UK.
What a fine mess our two countries are in due to spiting our faces by cutting off our noses.
5
Johnson’s eccentricity possibly lends many to believe he is a self-styled flowbee akratic.
3
Wow, what a column!
What could possibly be Johnson's single act of bravery?
Do you think he could secure a majority vote in Parliament where May did not?
As you observe, calling for elections would not ensure, well, anything. Given the impending deadline, wouldn't this be akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?
Would Europe care about a second referendum? How could they be certain that there wouldn't be a third, or a fourth. . .
I'm not an economist, so I don't really see what a deal with the US/Trump would accomplish. And aren't you a tad terrified to guess what further damage these two buffoons could inflict?
2
Boris Bloody Johnson, oh my England, how did it come to this?
I’d like to formally tenure my resignation. We cannot really, genuinely, be expected to continue as Englishmen beneath this man?
His mendacious, egotistical, recklessly unprepared and lazy incompetence is but nothing compared to supreme selfishness. A man who has never knowingly committed any act that wasn't entirely about himself and his own advancement. Yes, I’m sure he will make a titanic success of Brexit. The only small comfort will be watching him struggle to clean up the mess he has spent decades creating, since his days of fabricating absurd EU myths to his lies about Britain being able to negotiate a good deal with the EU - whilst simultaneously giving the two fingers to anyone across the Channel.
By all the gods, will the humiliations never end?
11
@Emma-Jayne I offer my hand in condolence as both a US Citizen and EU resident. Yes, the humiliations will end, like all things. But not without resounding pain.
4
After 3 years of watching the Trump Show I cannot believe the Brits have done this to themselves.
14
Listen to the people, so the dogma of universal suffrage democracy demands.
The Brexiters should just leave, deal or no deal. Scotland should choose if they want to regain independence to rejoin EU. Likewise for N Ireland. Wales too. Then everybody kinda happy.
Let see how far the former colonial empire can sink, like the sunset.
2
The Brexit vote, like our 2016 election, was tainted by lies and foreign interference aimed at weakening western political institutions and both elections should be considered illegitimate. In the US, for various reasons, we're stuck with Trump and his fellow buffoons for at least 16 more months. In Britain, they have a chance to correct their mistake sooner. If Johnson wants to clear the air and start fresh, he should call for another election immediately. If the Brits again vote to leave the EU, so be it. They will have no one to blame but themselves.
10
Boris Johnson is the right person for the job of PM at this moment. He was a significant factor in the outcome of the referendum, he is the best person to attempt to implement the results of the referendum, and too explore the possibilities of an increased relationship with the US, and if he fails to achieve a Brexit deal, so be it, no-one can complain about that result. And if it leads to an election, that too is fair, and if the conservatives win or lose conclusively, the election can be regarded as a second referendum, and if there is no conclusive outcome, that can either force another referendum of lead to the abandonment of the idea of Brexit.
In other words, the world is unfolding as it should, everyone should just relax and watch the show, it will be interesting.
4
@gbc1
I find it interesting that commentators like Roger Cohen have so little faith in democracy. Boris Johnson and Donald Trump each have their own idiosyncrasies, strengths, weakness and outright faults. They are both well-known by their electorates. They each have a vision for their countries and they are fighting to achieve it. When they exaggerate or misstate the facts, their political opponents and the press quickly jump all over them for it. Trump is fighting for things that many Americans want to see happen. It is obvious that many people in the UK would like to be out of the EU. It is irrelevant that anyone (including Roger Cohen) regards either man as unfit to hold his office or thinks he is headed for his “nemesis”.
4
@gbc1 People have faith in democracy. The problem is, that's not what is at work here.
3
@gbc1 Actually, it's vitally relevant. These so-called "leaders" don't exist, act or pontificate in a vacuum. Millions and millions of lives and livelihoods are at stake. And in referring to Trump "fighting," you should have said “… many selfish, ignorant, short-sided and fear-driven Americans …”
5
Mr Johnson is a colorful and entertaining man who seems to be highly intelligent.
But he's a proven liar. Mr Cohen's article sets out some of his lies - there are many others. Some of his lies are egregious - like the one cited of his claim that Turkish immigrants were set to overwhelm the UK, or the one not cited, of approx $500 million a week in extra funds for the NHS after Brexit.
We must not normalize lying politicians. We must not tolerate candidates for any public office lying. Being a liar should be an immediate and permanent disqualification.
We must insist on truthfulness in the public arena - a demand that has nothing to do with party allegiance. We've allowed too many liars to lead us and we must stop this deadly trend now.
16
I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of the humbling and chastising of Boris Johnson. May he gets a good dose of his own medicine.
7
When I think of the two towering statesmen who shared the world stage simultaneously -Churchill and FDR - I weep when I think about the two buffoons on that same global stage. How did all of us in the US and England allow this to happen?
22
@Kathkeen. The answer to your question as to how the USA and UK came to the world stage with 2 Buffoon has been obvious to me for a while. It all began innocently enough with Ronald Reagan declaring that Government was the Enemy and continued to advance through the Bushes and even all Democrats as well.
And, believe it or not, it was masterminded by the likes of Rupert Murdock and his American Super Billionaires. It was Rupert Murdock, and his propagandists, we now know, who assisted Margaret Thatcher in her ascent to power. And, together Thatcher and Reagan began the dismantling process of Liberal Democracy and the ascent of xenophobia and racism and White Nationalism in the USA so prevalent now in UK as well.
Boris Johnson and Donald Trump speak to all those minds that support these ideas.
8
Johnson has to play nice with Trump. If Britain crashes out of the EU, they will need a meaty bilateral trade deal with the U.S. How would you like your future to depend on the mercurial Donald Trump?
4
Boris Johnson, the newest trophy on Vladimir Putin’s shelf of hapless clowns. He’s right next to Donald Trump.
Vlad continues to march forward unabated. Pathetic.
14
Great, now The UK has their own Trump!
5
As an American immigrant who just recently got confirmed permanent residency, I am faced daily with the question, why here? The reason is simple: Britain takes ridiculous risks and is usually better off for doing so.
America, by contrast, is vastly risk-averse and brings in actuarial advice on seemingly every opportunity to improve conditions. What is uniting the British right and the centre now is the reality that the general public's appetite for risk is so huge it is ready to put Jeremy Corbyn in power at the next election. I welcome this risk as it will provide a highly valuable opportunity to offset and unload supply chains which mark up products and services they are paid and often subsidised to provide.
Boris Johnson is just one of a series of unelected events that British establishment patricians have railroaded through in order to preserve itself against the risk-perverse attitude of the the British electorate, who are pro-Brexit but leftist, pro-immigrant but anti-EU.
This turn of events -- Johnson as PM -- is not welcome. I still cannot believe anyone in England supports Brexit, or him.
I understand fear of losing jobs to lower paid workers from Eastern Europe (Labour Party fears). And racist sentiments against immigrants, the dislike of "the other", their cost to the country's economy, etc. are certainly not new ideas in the U.S.
But why the UK wants to leave itself open to the manipulations of Trump, and come to rely on his administration as the sole source of a trade agreement, is beyond me. U.S. agricultural products are grossly inferior to those of Europe, loaded with pesticides and hormones.
The only thing the UK needs the US for is to refine its crude oil. The US needs the UK because its nuclear missiles are there, and because no one else will accept its inferior agricultural products.
The UK needs the financial backing of the EU to be seen as a viable trading partner by other countries. As a stand-alone island, it doesn't have much to trade, or money to buy goods with.
Trump may look on this as a place he can take advantage of. Hardcore Brexiteers can temporarily suspend the fear of immigrants. But not for long ...
The reality is that revenue must come from somewhere. And, there is a massive debt to the EU that must be paid down. The UK just can't quit and run, and not expect to be vigorously pursued. No one likes a deadbeat.
289
@Lilou
Canada and China used to buy a lot of our inferior agricultural products. But Donald has been working to put a stop to that. I suspect the UK is where they will go if Boris comes begging.
15
@Graham -- "The UK was the 3rd biggest contributor to the EU. We will have some extra change in our pocket now - perhaps the EU can borrow some during their next crisis."
I'll take your economic argument at face value that Brexit will be good for Britain. If y'all get the Hard Brexit you want, let's wait a few year and see how it all works out for you. In the U.S., even though the Trump tariffs represent "the largest tax increase in U.S. history" due to the increased costs of goods, so far public opinion has been muted. It's hard to see the cost of everything going up on average 5%, but the public may eventually wise up.
9
@Graham--you are right about the American black/white media bias. I live in France, so rely on the New York Times for the "American" viewpoint, which, is written through a distinctly American filter. I also read the Guardian U.K., the Independent, Reuters and Le Monde. My views are based on the most neutral media sites I can find, and my own distillation thereof.
While it's wonderful that there are a variety of viewpoints in your press, I do not base by viewpoints on other people's comments. I wish the U.S. had a proportional, representational government in which all parties which exist there are represented.
While the NYT is center left, it's fairly balanced in its reporting. In contrast, Americans have only the extreme right views of media like Fox News. The welter of views in between these two sources are not represented.
As to the UK debt to the EU, the latest figure is 39 billion pounds, which is based on the UK's signed obligation to pay this amount to the EU as their EU member payments for 2019 and 2020. Theresa May guaranteed this amount would be paid. Boris Johnson toys with ignoring it.
As for trade, post-Brexit, the UK can trade under conditions of the WTO. While unemployment remains low, the vital banking sector has moved to EU countries. I do believe Trump will try to take advantage of the UK in the wake of Brexit, and he tends not to mean well.
I work primarily with English colleagues, who, to a person, do not agree with Brexit.
12
As a Brit I am horrified at the mess we have allowed ourselves to sleepwalk into. We are a representative parliamentary democracy. David Cameron called a Referendum on Europe to appease the Tory party not for the good of the country. The fact that he didn’t think it through or research how to do it well enabled mob rule & rabble rousing to divide & rule. Where to now Boris??
616
@Joan Devaney Where to? Only down, as far as I can tell. Two things, in particular, Johnson can't seem to appreciate or understand (or, more probably, won't confess to).
First, it's in the EU's interest to make Brexit as painful as possible for the U.K. in order to dissuade any other member country from considering a similar move. So I seriously doubt that Johnson will be able to wrest any further concessions from Brussel's. I doubt they'd even give BoJo the time of day if he asked!
Second, and this has not been reported on nearly as much as it should have been, are the World Trade Organization's rules which a post-Brexit U.K. will be forced to follow. In particular, WTO rules forbid a member nation from picking and choosing which other member nations to tax or tariff. In addition, if I understand it correctly, all WTO members have a say in trade deals between any two other member nations. So the Brexiteers' idea of quick and easy free trade agreements with the U.S.A., etc. was and is nothing more than wishful thinking. The deceptions and lies told by the leave campaign will certainly come back to bite in short order come November 1. One can only hope it'll be Boris' bottom that gets nipped first; but as usual, it will be the average person who'll pay dearest for this unholy folly foisted upon them by Farage, Johnson, Reese-Mogg, et al. A pox on them all, I say.
133
@Joan Devaney
To a unified Ireland, a thought that would have appalled and astonished a century of doctrinaire Tories.
45
@KBronson and destroy the Union? The no deal option will ultimately unite Northern Ireland and the Republic and accelerate Scottish Independence as well as set back the UK economy and standing for decades.
34
Why are so many rational, and responsible people thinking that political leaders like Donald Trump and Boris Johnson might fulfill their responsibilities in a way that benefits and improves their respective nations?
Any school teacher who has worked with 7 year-olds understands that if the class includes one individual who incessantly disrupts, screams for attention and misbehaves, nothing will get done that will benefit the rest of the class until the misbehaving student has been removed from the class.
Trying to reason with the misfit or patiently wait for things to calm down is a fantasy.
5
Speaker Pelosi has made it quite clear; no open border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, no trade deal. Trump has tangled with Pelosi before...and lost. Most recently over the budget.
3
Brexit is likely horrendous for the UK and EU economies, but that was the vote. A revote would be an equal disaster. If Brexit prevailed a 2nd time, there you are. And if the vote changed, what then? Legitimizing a referendum only if you get the result you could actually delegitimize a democracy.
Short of that, get on with awful Brexit. Democracy doesn’t always mean the best decision is made. That’s called utopia.
[And beware direct democracy, it’s no way to decide complex trade and economic matters.]
2
When Britain loses its universities and their Nat’l Health Svc, manufacturing leaves for the Continent, and they have no protection from trade tariffs, will they be comforted by Mr. Johnson’s vaunted wit and ability to just laugh anything off? What is the actual doing Boris intends with his ‘can do’ boast?
5
I feel tremendous sympathy for all the Brits who didn't vote to leave, and particular sympathy for Scotland and Ireland because the US is being victimized by the same brand of childish nationalism that can only lead to economic depression, social unrest, and if history has anything to say about it, war.
Sociologists suggest that every eighty years, like simian societies, humans get an uncontrollable urge to murder each other. I fear that's where we are now.
The sad part is that this destruction is being brought on the people of the US and Britain by a narrow minded minority whose primary driver is fear and anger.
I hope we make it through this, because I find it very trying to endure.
11
The election of Boris Johnson will quite likely lead to the end of Great Britain & hopefully the unification of Ireland.. The EU warned Scotland before the Indy referendum that if we voted for Independence we would be expelled from the EU & would have to reapply from the back of the line & this had a huge effect on the Indy vote, we never imagined there would be a Brexit vote & had we known we would most likely be Independent & part of the EU & England would be the lonely little country many of the people appear to want it to be. If Brexit goes ahead we must insist on a new Indy referendum, we Scots do not want to be run by a bunch of upper class English toffs who went to Eton, we are Europeans not English.
7
Boris Johnson: the worst and last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
6
Waiting for a "pivot"....where have I heard that before?
3
The Blond Buffoon doing the right thing? Seems unlikely, given that his entire life up to this point is a pretty wretched story of narcissism, lies, adultery and, I was going to say cynicism, but actually nihilism is far more accurate.
4
Mr. Cohen, tell us why Labour under Mr. Corbyn is awful. This is supposed to be a digital newspaper and facts would be in order.
Before the charges of anti-Semitism are raised, see this video of the Labour Party leader.
https://youtu.be/ekuna08vs_c
https://labour.org.uk/no-place-for-antisemitism/
1
Those interested in learning why UK voters believed Nigel Farage & the spectacular lies of the "Leave" campaign should watch this TED talk by Welsh journalist Carole Cadwalladr:
https://www.ted.com/talks/carole_cadwalladr_facebook_s_role_in_brexit_and_the_threat_to_democracy?language=en#t-772240
Her talk is very important, because the same thing happened here in 2016 & will undoubtedly happen again here in 2020. Our democracy is at stake.
Are the Brits going to start floating a Baby Boris next to Baby Trump? They should!
5
With Johnson and Trump in power in two major English speaking countries of the world, we are witnessing the sunset of our civilization and the decline of the English language. The buffoons are entertaining the low brow crowds who've elected them. Seem that English speakers have bred too many low brows and have forsaken the legacies of Shakespeare, Galsworthy, O'Henry, etc., and have internalized The Apprentice and The Weakest Link. I guess it's now it's up the French speakers, with not so dull heritage of their own of Voltaire, Dumas, Proust and Balzac, etc., to defend western sensibilities and enlightenment. May be France's Ministry of Language and Culture was doing something right, but at least the people in France and in Canada have not succumbed to the temptation of electing complete and utter idiots and bigots to the top leadership role. Must be something in the language.
5
@realist Look a bit further east, toward Moscow. It has nothing to do with language and every bit to do with Putin who whilst without the military power has sought and continues to seek disrupting democracies from around the world by encouraging rot from the inside.
Yeah I agree ,Boris , Nigel all Brexit ilk are akratic.
Living with the dream of trying to do impossible or worse achieving that and bringing 7 plagues of Bible to a nation
is
in fact
AKRATIC.
1
"Johnson is a self-styled 'akratic' — that is, per Aristotle, 'a person who knows the right thing to do but can’t help doing the opposite.' "
Thank you to Mr. Cohen for introducing me to the terms akrasia/akratic, which can also be defined as acting against one's one best interests. The US electorate seems in many cases to be suffering from akrasia. Will we still be akrasia after all these years when we re-elect Trump in 2020?
4
I'm currently reading A Short History of Europe by Simon Jenkins, which is interesting (if possibly too brief) survey of the empires, allegiances and nations that have shaped Europe through the rise of its civilizations to today.
What it really demonstrates is that nations, governments and ideologies and empires are not forever. They are fragile and ever-changing and require the most careful stewardship to endure. Modern Great Britain as a construct is not really all that old in comparison to some of the past empires that have risen and fallen. For a few hundred years, Britain enjoyed naval and trading power giving rise to its maritime empire as well as sophisticated diplomacy and intermarriage, which helped it to maintain some continuity of governance (albeit often from the offspring of foreign powers).
However, it is just one of many competing nations and empires in European history and there is nothing magical in its construction that destines it to permanently endure. It has taken much lesser fools than Boris Johnson to drive the greatest empires that the world had ever seen into the ground. As we standby as he kneecaps British regulatory, diplomatic, and trade supremacy in gleeful spite of women walking around London in hijabs, consider all other empires that also once dominated the continent but gave it up through the incompetence and ego of men just like Johnson.
5
One has to ask how such a travesty can happen. And not only in the UK, but all over the world. I have always believed that if you follow the money, you find the true crime in it. Certainly in the USA that would be the case. But nobody in journalism or politics wants to criticize potential donors.
2
It is puzzleing why Cohen, like all the globalists, just cannot envision that a committed Brexit supporter might be able to secure a more fair agreement from the EU than was obtained by May? I submit is it simple. The EU has more to fear from a no-deal Brexit than does the U.K. The EU is teetering on the brink of disintegration and does have a dilemma. If it makes Brexit to attractive, Italy will be next. But the counter is a risk as well. If the EU persists it the arrogant treatment it gave May, the whole world, as well as the other dissenting EU members, will be reminded of the essential arrogance and undemocratic tendancies of the EU Brussels elite.
When I was in London over the Christmas holiday, I inquired of many taxi drivers what they thought of Brexit and the situation? To a person, they all said only Boris can straighten this out!
I submit that London taxi drivers have a better grasp on the situation than does this anti-Tory globalist.
5
It took Mrs. May more than two years of work to put together the Brexit deal, what are the odds Boris could put one together in about two months, with his famous aversion to details and hard work? Let’s see what Ladbroke’s says, not ppl who drive cabs, and are not impressed with posh accents and bloviation.
2
@SonomaEastSide sure they do. They all have the same breadth of education, exposure and experience with national and international affairs as a top journalist with decades of experience.
1
@SonomaEastSide well, we'll see, won't we. london cab drivers aren't any more oracular than new york cab drivers.
1
Its the old "Divide and Conquer"
Works every time.
At least Putin seems to think so.
6
Johnson, another example of the Peter Principle
7
Question - Brexit ?? Answer - Iran.
A good war provokes by the UK will unite the country.
Boris Johnson can do it.
3
@PK Jharkhand No way Britain can go to war with Iran. They do not have the forces or material, nor the logistic ability.
1
As Fintan O’Toole has pointed out in The New York Review of Books, Johnson is a self-styled “akratic” — that is, per Aristotle, “a person who knows the right thing to do but can’t help doing the opposite.”
With all due respect to Fintan O'Toole (qua Aristotle) re “a person who knows the right thing to do but can’t help doing the opposite,” whether regarding Mr. Johnson or anybody else, I suggest that Mr. Cohen and Mr. O'Toole read Barbara Tuchman, The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, first published in 1984 (!!).
How quickly we forget the works of important, even if not academic, historians.
7
@Joshua Schwartz Those who have forgotten or ignored history are doomed to repeat it.
They both appear to have small hands.
Another good column Mr Cohen.
4
May God save the Queen and the common man of Britan. One can be assured politicians won't.
2
I can't help but think of the irony: in Ukraine a professional comedian emerges as an apparently sober and responsible leader, while in the UK a "professional" journalist and politician emerges as a clown.
9
"Johnson has lied, pandered and guffawed his disheveled way to the highest office in the land. . ."
Not quite. There is still a sovereign who outranks him.
1
"Does he really want to be Trump’s poodle begging for some trade accord to offset Brexit’s cost to British commerce?"
My poodle is deeply offended.
7
I used to think Boris was like Donald on steroids, but now I am wondering if it is the reverse. Happy to learn Boris is not wacko AND ignorant...only eccentric..from this article. Better luck to all in the UK than we have had in the USA.
1
This is a mess, one that rivals our own. But as an American I have to ask; I get that the UK is a representative parliamentary democracy. I understand the processes involved. Yet in all of this muddle I have not seen so much as word one as to what the Queen and royal family think.
One would presume that their opinion might help sway things one way or another. British citizenry pay them to act as titulary heads of the nation. Shouldn't they be speaking up?
Or are they little more than the hood-ornament on the bonnet of a Rolls Royce? A badly beaten up one at that?
John~
American Net'Zen
1
@John The royals are hood ornaments. And they are forbidden to actually speak out on political matters. My second point, refers back to the first.
So glad Mr Cohen referred to Fintan O'Toole's article in the NYRB. So well worth reading! What are the odds of the Johnson "lay about" surviving a few bouts of "question time in the house"?
In the late 18th century at the time of the American revolution Dr Johnson said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."
When Dr Johnson wrote his dictionary many of our words were just taking shape and Dr Johnson was a conservative and Boris would have been a Whig like America's Freedom Caucus not a Tory.
More importantly a scoundrel was the most destructive of humans sowing anger, distrust, hatred and confusion wherever he went, kind of like Republicans and America's so called "conservatives."
7
Boris is unprincipled and inconstant. Corbyn and Farage are both terrible alternatives for different reasons. The Brits need to look elsewhere for leadership before they founder.
1
"Boris Johnson, the incoming British prime minister, is a classical scholar."
Wonder what he had to read, write, and discuss to earn that designation. I wonder because I am a firm believer in the benefits of a liberal, humanistic education.
Apparently, if he had such an education the vaccination did not take.
Perhaps a Brit can enlighten me.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
1
For people who look like me, the best Brexit was when Britain left our grandparents' countries 60 or 70 years ago.
Scotland, where I studied and has so many open-minded, positive people, neither deserves nor wants this jingoistic mealy-mouthed disaster. Neither do British universities, businesses or innovators on the whole.
The sanest thing would be to have a second referendum, where the facts are laid on the table, at least 90% vote - and monolingual Empire-nostalgists with crooked teeth and misconceptions about themselves and the world take a back seat to the educated, the young and the forward-looking.
4
"It would, in any event, be a leave-or-remain election, so why not call a second referendum?" Because just imagine what would happen if a second referendum confirmed the first!
4
@Allsop it's easy to imagine. A 3rd referendum. Hence the term 'neverendum.' Just ask the poor Irish who voted down the Lisbon treaty.
2
I am reluctant to add my simple comments/question to such erudite responses and Mr. Cohen's article itself. Yet, no one has been able to provide a convincing answer when asked why does the electorate constantly vote for people like Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and in far-off Australia - a clown - albeit a dangerous one - by the name of Scot Morrison. If Democracy gives us these outcomes - can we not devise a better system or are we really doomed?
4
@Anton In the USA Trump did not win the popular vote. He won the electoral college which is a complicated carry over from a by-gone era, but provides the perfect conditions for voter fraud and manipulation.
Was ever there a more perfect example of the Peter Principle at work?
3
If Johnson takes Britain out of the European Union without a deal, there will be no way to avoid having a hard border between the two parts of Ireland. This would probably lead to civil war. The purpose of creating the European Common Market was to prevent further warfare in Europe. In this it has been a brilliant success. The British should show some gratitude for the peace and prosperity that the European Union has brought. Instead of that they have become victims of their own xenophobia.
5
I believe Johnson, who is, like Trump,another scion of chaos, will sputter and flame out in epic fashion.
But not before they have both extracted a measure of suffering and confusion from their respective countries.
Both men were born in New York City.
Billy the Kid was born in NYC.
Is it the water?
3
Johnson will never be that brave. He can quote Churchill all he wants, but he is no Churchill. Nor is he a brave man by nature but rather an opportunistic one. He led Britain down this rabbit hole and his political future now depends on convincing the British public that up is down, right is left, and a host of other ridiculous things that never made all that much sense to begin with.
But like his counter-part in the US, he can't keep bamboozling people forever. A conman will ALWAYS be found out, sooner or later. Let us hope that "sooner" rather than "later" prevails in this case.
2
Why doesn’t the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland just piece together a new Celtic federation and pull out of little Britain. They might even convince a few others to come along.
6
With the pending dissolution of the UK and the political disintegration of both the UK and the US, we are seeing the denouement of Reagan/Thatcherism.
2
One of the great shocks to me about this era and the worldwide crop of lying demagogues it's spawned has been the extent to which said demagogues will go right on demagoguing even as their lies fall to ashes or create around them. Usually, they resort to blaming someone else.
Two things about this are most disturbing: That they will do untold harm to their countries and wider society in their continuing denial and don't apparently give a fig about that, and they will without hesitation unleash and even foment said harm to actual millions of human beings in order to attain and hold onto power.
As a lifelong journalist, supposedly skilled in observing and interpreting human events, I feel a bit of personal shame at not understanding how many people would engage in this kind of odious behavior, and some institutional shame as well that journalists are still scrambling over ways to cover these dangerous elements without becoming megaphones for their most odious beliefs.
On that second part, two things: Call out and constantly report on the lying news media (often Murdoch-related) that foment these lies and hatreds, and secondly stop quoting the lies and hatred without FIRST and immediately afterward identifying it for what it it.
1
If Boris Johnson thinks Trump will bail him out of the Brexit mess with some magical trade treaty that will somehow be better than British membership in the European Union he is truly delusional. A narcissist who seeks help from another narcissist is bound to be disappointed.
4
I hope all the Brexiteers have paused to consider the prospect of negotiating a trade deal with the Trump Administration without a plan B. Trump’s rhetoric about a beautiful deal is just that. Wait until he has his boot on your neck.
3
The gods have to be in "what fools these mortals be" mode with Trump and Johnson as protagonists. It is unbelievable enough to have Trump take over the former colonies and proceed to put on the biggest show of incompetence and mendacity known to man only to have the feat replicated by the empire that begat the former renegades. Humans are a curious lot. Its almost as if the gods are saying "Lets let Vlad have a crack at this. He couldn't possibly be any worse." We shall see.
2
100 days. It will be tumultuous times in the press rooms, parlors and parliament. Nothing much will likely occur in substance. But, it could trigger a ScotEx and an NoIrEx.
1
"the crazed little-England monomaniacs " But why should it be "little-England"? There was a time when it was said that the sun would not set on the British empire since it was always shining somewhere in the British empire - the empire was so large. The EU did not even exist.
To be sure, the British empire cannot and will not come back. But Britain can have friends other than the all white EU. It can even have the EU as friend but not as boss.
The NYT has repeatedly told only one side of the story.
I am reminded of Churchill's dire prediction about how India would do without British rule. He turned out to be wrong. Just last week India sent its second mission to the moon.
Britain, be hopeful. There is no reason for the land of Shakespeare and Darwin and Turing to sigh in despair.
3
Cohen disingenuously writes:
"After three years of inconclusive chaos, with all Johnson’s lies in 2016 now exposed, Britons deserve a chance to say if they really want to leave."
In a democracy, or a republic, you generally don't get a do over until you get the results you want.
That is unless you are like Cohen and the rest of the global elite, and will fight tooth and nail, throwing every threat, disparagement and dirty undermining trick to maintain your position on top.
How many nationalist parties have to win or receive substantial support in the US, Britain, France, Poland, Hungary, the Philippines, and on and on for the globalist to acknowledge the system they've created is NOT working for the people?!
Britain will find away to make it work - even a hard Brexit. And the And the smug, unaccountable Eurocrats in Brussels will need to find away to work with a non-EU country - just like they do with the rest of the world.
Yes, Johnson may be a broken vessel to deliver a hard exit. Yet, many in Britain value national sovereignty and freedom, even if economically constrained, over the soft fascism of the global elite.
4
Hubris, ate, nemesis ... 'ate' being acts of folly, the direct result of over-weaning pride, which lead to destruction. Johnson must know this, being a Classical scholar. Crashing out of the EU without a deal is the act of folly. It's an old human story ....
1
Political narcissists like Johnson and Trump seek attention and power any which way. They throw their self-serving, aberrant behaviors at the wall to see what sticks.
If people didn't vote for them, they would be nothings and nobodies. There's a sucker born every minute, and countries can be suckers.
1
Johnson, a "classical scholar?" He's said to have been a scholar of the classics, once.
1
The little yapping dog has caught the locomotive. Now what?
2
A superb column, and an example of what what first-rate journalism can aspire to.
2
Boris Johnson proves one thing conclusively: the British are no better than Americans when it comes to choosing leaders.
1
What happens if Boris Johnson reacts to this tangled mess like a dear in the headlights of an oncoming truck? What do the Protestants in Ulster dislike more; a hard border with Ireland or an EU membership? Countries across the EU are looking at Britain's manufacturing and financial industries like hungry wolves. What next for Scotland? Think of Johnson as 007, trapped in a shrinking room, with deadly whirring blades creeping toward him. That's how he certainly thinks of himself. So, what now agent Boris? Because, if you do nothing till October 31st, the EU is going to pull the ripcord and off you go, into the wild blue yonder, with no parachute.
3
I don't see much of anything to suggest that Mr. Johnson cares about how he is remembered... especially by history. So, I don't see how this factor could be much of a motivation for him towards any policy related to Brexit or any other matter.
1
More and more I realize that even though I was a chemistry major with a minor in philosophy in college my high school days reading Greek and Latin and no science gave me more insight into human nature than any psychology class did.
Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle etc wrote about men like Boris and Donald. Of course so did Shakespeare but he used the ancients' themes for many of his plays.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
4
I feel that all may not be lost with the appointment of Mr Johnson as PM. There will be a General Election called soon, that will com about due to Johnson losing his majority and being unable to form a Government.
The Tory vote will be split by the Populist Brexit Party , enabling either Labour or a combination of Labour and the Liberal Democrats to govern.
Both these parties have committed to a second vote on Brexit. Now that people actually have a dose of reality such as what Brexit means eg 'Boris Johnson representing you as your PM' and real information as for instance the UK has no market for its products once they are shut out of the EU. I am confident that the No Exit vote will prevail.
There will be a hard Brexit come October if Johnson is still PM, the EU have disbanded their Brexit Team , and determined that the deal on the table is a take it or leave it option.
A General election and a redo on the Brexit vote are all the can
save Britain from the brink.
5
No deal Brexit will arrive with or without political intervention. What’s more the UK has already been on the brink of a no deal Brexit (in late march of this year.) Absent was the sensation of a looming apocalypse. Not least because contingency plans addressing vital services, short term commercial activity, travel and many other areas had been drafted and publicised. There is simply no evidence that a no deal Brexit would “sever essential supply chains” nor is there any sensible reason this would occur, given that tariffs would be applied primarily to UK exports rather than imports. The BBC’s “no-deal Brexit: 10 ways it could affect you” is worth a read by anyone curious. You will find little there to justify the term “mayhem.”
4
@S Wow. This is the first contrary opinion I have read in the New York Times since I started reading it this week. Good job. Freedom of the press is not totally dead in New York then:-)
1
@S Remains to be seen, but this divorce is ugly. Nothing currently known indicates the dissolution of this contractual union will be amicable. The EU will not let the UK just walk away; there's too much on the table financially. Johnson may be very intelligent, but he's an egotistical Trumpian clown who now has to act like a grown up and statesman. I don't think he has it in him.
2
@Keen Observer The near constant depiction of European leaders as hostile and vindictive would if it were accurate speak very poorly to their suitability to govern. Luckily there are many sound practical reasons for the EU to not wage economic war on the UK even in a no deal environment. And there is absolutely no proof that “vital supply lines would be cut” – this is simply science fiction, a falsehood as glaring as anything Johnson or Trump has ever concocted.
1
The brilliant analysis misses a substantial point: the American-Anglo powerful lobby which is still anti-EU and has been indispensable to propel Johnson to the PM job.
For decades, this anti-EU force has been always at work in the USA and UK, becoming relevant for the Brexit referendum results. Now, it is at the top of its strength and influence thanks to the current POTUS and his allies.
One of the questions, which will be at the heart of the transatlantic future relations, is the weight and endurance of such anti-EU lobby and its disastrous impact on the EU integration development and peaceful growth.
Such a malefic action might disrupt seriously the till now excellent and effective economic and political relationship between EU and USA with the obvious advantage of the China and Russia ambitions.
4
SO BORIS JOHN'S NEMESIS WILL BE Serenaded by a variation on London Bridge is Falling Down, the familiar children's nursery rhyme. It will become:
Boris Johnson's falling down.
Falling down, falling down.
Boris Johnson's falling down.
Down the toilet.
3
And what will you be singing if you’re wrong?
Yeah, yeah, and there’s absolutely no way Trump could be elected, either.
I'm a Brit and I voted to leave the EU so, although I have many doubts about Boris, I am hopeful that he will accede to the democratic will of the people and get us out. The EU is a largely corrupt and dysfunctional federal organisation that has been foisted on us from a base of an original body set up to facilitate trade between European nations. I do not want to be governed by foreign nationals I neither know nor respect, so I chose Brexit and I expect it to happen. Perhaps the citizens of the US might consider if they would wish to be dictated to by a multinational conglomerate comprising of Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and all the nations of Central and South America?
6
@John Datchens: You're wrong about the US. The USA itself is a conglomerate of states not unlike the EU with states that are as large as European countries, each with its own state government, and if we get four more years of Trump, that conglomerate may well fall apart under his relentless divisiveness. Putin will be thrilled to see Europe and the USA fall apart.
28
@Anna
I agree.
It might be time to consider a name change for us as ‘United’ no longer seems to be who we are.
2
@Anna let’s be serious. US states are not in any meaningful way comparable to European nations. Indeed the US probably has more in common with Canada culturally and legally than Britain has with any other country in the EU.
5
Growing up in the '50's, it seemed the USSR, Yugoslavia, and the United Kingdom would all go on forever. The first two are now gone. But, they were young, relatively speaking. Now, I'm watching as the 300+/- year old United Kingdom gets ready to implode. Is Spain next? Will the U.S.'s post WW2 position in the world continue to diminish? Will Putin have his way in reuniting the USSR he grew up in?
The fluid nature of history is stunning to behold.
14
300 year old? And the rest! Magna Carta (1215) was comparatively recent!
No no no, Roger! The Brits HAVE made their choice. They must leave.
Not leaving, without addressing the differences and the lies at the heart of the conflict, would be the worst possible outcome. Don't forget, the very referendum that Cameron held back in 2016 was itself a ploy to put pressure on the EU and squeeze out yet more exceptions and concessions.
I know "Leave" wasn't meant to succeed, but it did, so there you are. The UK must exit the EU.
Besides, the issue is not the prospect of quitting, it is the gob-smacking level of unpreparedness. No-one in Britain appears to have sought to understand what the implications of such a decision would be.
Anyone who can read a map would notice an international border running across the island of Ireland. And anyone who can understand the concept of "leaving the club" would know that by leaving the EU, this would become a true border with all that implies, just like the border between, say, Greece and Turkey is an international border.
This is one of a whole host of topics where all the problems were perfectly knowable beforehand. But we're more than three years on, and the UK is no more ready than in May 2016. Thàt is the problem.
18
Thank you Mr Cohen. Finally a fair and balanced piece on Boris, without the Americanisation of British politics. Unlike the principled Mrs May (Brexit means Brexit), Boris has proven himself unpredictable enough to completely reverse himself and call for another referendum. As a remainer, this is my last great hope!
8
Johnson is faced with a Gordian knot. But, being a Classics scholar, and possessing the first name Alexander, he will no doubt trust he has a suitable sword at hand. Perhaps he will call another referendum, but the question will be directed towards the UK itself. In facing the possibility that leaving the EU could destroy the Kingdom he could ask the people which body - the EU or the UK - is the most significant. The process of breaking up the UK would be a nightmare psychologically, socially and economically, and would make the current difficulties infinitesimally small by comparison. Everyone would recognise that, even the soi-disant 'Spartans'. It could be his way out.
4
These are exciting times, aren't they? We are about to be treated to a day of public testimony from Robert Mueller in front of House committees where, if all he does is read from his report, clueless Americans will finally understand what a brazen, autocratic, and criminal president they have. Then a few months later, the world will watch in horror as the United Kingdom plunges over the cliff into the death spiral of no-deal Brexit. Forget movies, we have nerve racking, arm chair grabbing political theater.
Somehow it appears to me that conservatives in both the US and the UK are going to rue the next few months like they have never rued anything before. One might even call it the beginning of the ascendance of the Left in western democracies. Indeed, the best way for progressives to gain power is simply to let conservatives have it for a short period of time; the current cadre of governing conservatives are so excellent at messing things up that one can almost see their "nemesis" striding over the near hill.
24
@Tom Krebsbach
You write this may be the "Beginning of the ascendance of the Left in western democracies". Dream on!
The left has refused to acknowledge the will of the people and continue to do so.
People are being tarred as 'nationalist' when they want country put over the machinations of the unelected global elite who are enthralled to slavishly serve the 1%.
The new world order has just begun - and it is a refutation of all the unelected and unaccountable global institutions like the EU, IMF, the G8, NAFTA, the UN, etc.
2
@Tom Krebsbach
My question is will we survive this ride into the weeds?
You prefer living under the behest then of unknown plutocrats and oligarchs? You cannot see those faces or give them names, you and I are less than pawns in the game, but the name of the game isn’t democracy.
1
As grim as this is, a hard Brexit could crash the markets and usher in a recession, which would hurt Trump’s re-election chances.
Yes, recessions are painful, but they are also common, and you can recover from them. I am not sure we can recover from a second term of Donald Trump.
20
In 2016, for better or worse, the UK had a referendum which decided Brexit. Later that year the US had an election and collectively installed Trump.
Both have since been met with loud and urgent cries that voters didn't know what they were doing.
Err. Beg to differ but voters typically know exactly what they're doing. Must admit both outcomes threw me.
Yet neither country is responsible for the others voting habits. So the nexus of Boris/Trump is hardly relevant.
Since Brexit everything that could be done to undermine it has been done. The fact it hasn't is because those charged with implementing it never wanted it.
Who knows, Brexit may result in the complete collapse of Britain, although plenty of other countries are doing fine without involvement in the EU. Britain is no Greece, it remains the 5th largest economy in the world and second in the EU, it's unlikely to suddenly revert to 3rd world status.
And to some French commenting below. I don't want to rub salt in old wounds. But without the UK, USA and Britains Commonwealth your comments would likely be in German.
6
@Paul We are all glad that the Nazis didn't win, but also that imperial Japan and the Soviet empire collapsed. Empires decline.
History is not static, and WWII does not mean the world will accept US dominance unquestioningly forever, or that a former empire like the UK will flourish (see the state of Portugal, Persia, Rome, Turkey or Greece today - all former empires).
3
Johnson will go through the motions, agree to a deal with a second referendum, lose the vote, and shrug. Now that he is PM, he has no reason to care whether there is a Brexit or not.
7
I remember being a young boy, maybe 7 years old. I went to the Library and took out a book called the Battle of Britain. It had a cool-looking plane on the cover. Of course, that was a Spitfire.
I remember being shocked that the Luftwaffe attack on Britain happened in 1940 and that w head only gotten into the war in 1941. I asked all the grownups about it- about why we. Were not helping the British when it was just them. Nobody really had an answer.
So, at that age, I developed a keen admiration for Britain, not as
Unusual in Philly as people might think-not back then anyway.
Of course, my 7 year old view of Britain as the courageous savior of democracy was not fully informed, but it wasn’t all that far off the reality. When I think of britain then, and. Look at it now, the difference is hard to take.
Of course, when I look at America now, the I turn is none too bright and cheery either.
10
As someone who has always believed that Northern Ireland should be re-united with the Republic of Ireland I am hoping that this Brexit mess will cause the UK to dissolve.
Let's never forget: the English have never cared for any part of Ireland and they only control Northern Ireland so they can keep their boot on Ireland's neck. The English care as much about Ireland as they did in 1848 when a million of Victoria's subjects starved to death. Brexit, then England out of Northern Ireland. Sounds good to me.
12
I have never read a more righteously vicious and excoriating appraisal of anyone, and this is an art that only British writers practice with this kind of offhand, virtuosic aplomb. Roger Cohen, born in Great Britain, has become a peer of Samuel Johnson. The fact that he happens to be right about everything is beside the point to me just at the moment: I'm talking about style. Style gets the point across better than posturing, bloviation and bluster. Kudos, Sir Roger. More, please.
26
Roger’s piece is gentle compared to Fintan O’Toole’s. You ought to read it, too.
@CKent
Emphatically and enthusiastically agree. Wish multiple "Recommendeds" were allowed.
Thank you, Sir Roger and @CKent--another pen-wielding worthy.
@jdatlantic
And thank you, jdatlantic. Mr. Cohen's surgical dissection of a phony poseur may have inspired my attempt at commentary. Robert Graves, now that I think of it, would also have risen to the occasion as incisively as our Mr. C.
On Nov 1 this year, the day after the existing Brexit deadline, Ursula von der Leyen takes over as the head of the EU Commission. In her speech just prior to the vote that put her in the seat, she mentioned the possibility of another extension.
It may turn out to be an eventful autumn.
2
Once upon a time, the Sun never used to set on the British Empire. Soon, it seems, it will never rise on what might remain that is still called Britain. Poetic justice for a country that marauded, looted, and divided people all over the planet ? You decide.
Godspeed Boris. Just do it.
10
Well, bravo! Boris Johnson got what he wanted, and the 1% of the British voting public got what they wanted: a two-fer if there ever was one.
8
"After hubris, nemesis". Thank you for a brilliant editorial. From your...er, computer...to Johnson's ear.
9
This whole Brexit frenzy has called up the image of someone putting a revolver to the temple, yanking the trigger--and repeatedly missing. Just have the bloody second referendum, see to your borders, and be done with the whole episode! A better deal does not await elsewhere. Never did.
9
(If I understand what I'm reading in the BBC) Parliament could step in to try to cure the undemocratic process that got Boris to Downing Street. Parliament may not want to do it, but they can. They are under no pressure to recognise some kind of popular mandate since he's there by virtue of 90,000 party members, not the electorate. What they can do is call a no confidence vote. If he loses there would be a general election. That guarantees nothing, of course, and could strengthen him. But it's an option if Parliament wants to avoid trxmp-style chaos and leadership vacuum.
6
I've been hoping that GB would wake up and at least have a second referendum but that seems out of the question now. With Boris in charge now, touting his 'Hard Brexit' my curiosity is now totally and morbidly piqued. I'm ready to pop some corn, get a big drink and watch what happens when Boris walks GB off the Hard Brexit cliff. This ought to be momentous!
5
Boris Johnson may be no Donald Trump but if he refuses to engage his intelligence, he is even more stupid. A nation's economy, goals, and reputation are nothing to trifle with, but Mr. Johnson appears to put his brains on hold in order to cosset his willful eccentricities. Not the stuff of which a leader is made. With the exception of intelligence, we have a similar foolhardy idiot at the helm. And we should not be a country to emulate in any way.
11
Years from now, when a future Gibbons is writing his Decline and Fall of the Western World, he (or she) will point first to the prologue: the election of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the recurring financial crises, 9/11 and terrorism, rising longevity and public debt, inequality, addiction, social unrest, etc.
But, I wager, Brexit will be defined as the moment the steel frame of the skyscraper (of Western civilization) started to buckle. Boris will be mentioned in a footnote as one of the janitors on duty that day.
24
@GeorgeX:
Ouch!..well spake.
5
@GeorgeX. Yeah, and Trump will be at the door holding the mop.
9
@GeorgeX: You forgot Climate Change. Our climate emergency/addiction to fossil fuels because of personal greed of the 1% is affecting everything. Somany walls will be needed - and the Earth's people will not be able to rest.
3
This Brexit is so boneheaded. Let's say England does wind up leaving the E.U. in October. What comes next? Filling in the Chunnel to complete the divorce?
If he were alive today, even William of Orange would take a pass on England.
5
" person who knows the right to do but can't help doing the opposite" is STUPID where I come from. Dumb is not knowing the right thing to do because of lack of information.
3
Am I the only one tired of the Brexit drama?
The Tories made their bed.
Now Britain should have to lie in it.
Just like us with Republicans and Donald Trump.
You can't fix stupid.
18
Brexit is the last gasp of British/Anglo-Saxon exceptionalism, the notion that the Germanic peoples were superior to all others, that the Anglo-Saxons were the best of the Germanic tribes, and that temporary British dominance meant that God created the British to rule the world. The hard-line Brexiteers want to re-create the past glories of Britannia, the same way that ISIS wants to re-create the seventh century.
Americans can look at it all with bemused wonder, but British exceptionalism is the foundation of American exceptionalism, since Americans were obviously the best of the Anglo-Saxons. It's the same arrogance, racism and blind assumption of superiority, just taken a step farther west. We'll get ours, just as the British are getting theirs.
38
Per Mr. Cohen, Johnson should call another election. I guess the liberal leaning Mr. Cohen thinks that elections only count when they go the desired way.
4
@Richard, electorates have the right to change their mind, and do frequently. In this case, now that the truth of Brexit is known, the right thing to do would be to ask the electorate if that's what they really want - because neither of the two current paths are the cost free Nirvana that was offered.
8
@richard. Dunno about you, but I always reserve the right to get smarter and to change my mind as I learn more.
1
The lack of credible opposition will keep him in power. They are too fragmented and internally unruly. If Labour could find a leader who was at all intelligent and respectful of the public, and not morally compromised, they might have a chance. But they seem to be all in with Corbyn. That decision is just as damaging as Boris.
2
Boris Johnston has been sniping from the side lines. Let him now own Brexit and accept the responsibility for the mess that is coming. If it ever had been a good idea it would have happened by now.
10
I wonder whether we have taken unification and integration too far too early in the context of human political evolution. It sounds nice to say we have more in common with each other than we have differences, but I wonder. Here in the United States we have come to a place where the values and desires of Californians, Coloradans, New Englanders, etc. are held hostage by the values and concerns of people in the rural south and mid-west. Why should that be so? The cultural norms of people in Mississippi or South Carolina or West Virginia are vastly different from those in the Pacific coastal states, or Colorado. Why do we insist on throwing our fortunes together where the best we can hope for on either side is significant compromise, or perpetual grid-lock. To be honest I really don't care whether the rural south supports adequate education funding, or health care for everyone, or legalized marijuana, as long as they don't get in the way us working towards those things. And I'm sick of arguing about it. And maybe the Brits are just different enough from the rest of Europe that they should go forward with Brexit. In 20 years maybe they will very glad they did... I think it's quite possible that they will. Maybe we need smaller more focused political entities. Putting all of us in the same basket and trying to make any reasonable progress on any front is proving to be much too hard.
15
Boris Johnson, like his American brother-in-narcissism, has a poor record when colliding with reality, having left disaster in his wake as Mayor of London, as UK Foreign Secretary and as Brexit's architect-in-chief.
As a fact-free Brexit agitator in 2016, like his brother-in-fecklessness Nigel Farage he cut and ran as soon as the vote to leave was counted. Leading up to that vote, he knowingly lied through his teeth about the nostalgic glories and ignored costs of Britain going it alone.
As a Prime Minister having commanded less than one per-cent of his electorate's vote, Boris Johnson promises to lead the UK straight into the dissolution of its own kingdom's unity, leaving England even more isolated than Brexit alone would cause.
I shall miss the majesty of the venerable Union Jack.
4
in re Boris Trump--dang! I did it again! Let's insist that The Don always wear a red tie and
that Bore-iss always wear a blue one. Let's hope that helps.
3
A very perceptive article about the insane situation Britain finds itself in and the clown who supposedly will lead the way out of it -- except for one thing. Mr. Cohen, when will you stop running Jeremy Corbin into the ground? He and his party are NOT anti-Semites. Rather, they are opposed to the ultra-Zionists in power in Israel who stop at nothing to visit humiliation and outrage upon the Palestinian people. Treating people like human beings comes first, Mr. Cohen, not pretending those who see what's going on as racists.
16
#free range:
Thank you.
1
Boris and Donald’s fluctuate as each other’s understudy, each having equal amounts of mouthy bravado fully devoid of wisdom.
They are going to get along famously.
5
Finally he has reached the apogee of his incompetence.
8
So....as a US citizen, should I be happy Boris Johnson isn’t leading my country?
1
'Those Whom The Gods Would Destroy They First Drive Mad'
(Longfellow)
6
"Does he really want to cozy up to an American president who says he could, if he chose, wipe Afghanistan “off the face of the earth,” killing “10 million people”; portrays himself as a potential mediator in the Kashmir conflict with an outright lie; and resorts to a racist outburst repudiated by the German chancellor?"
Thanks. Just as I was about to enjoy a minute of reverie induced by schadenfreude, reality and Trump intruded.
Thanks for waking me up from a Brexit induced reverie. While schadenfreude can let us forget our own miseries for a minute, the angst returns with the frequency of Donald Trump's tweet.
2
Boris Johnson is the latest example of a man who "failed up". There is nothing in his background that suggest his performance in this job will be any different. Democracies are no longer democracies when leaders are chosen by the few and not elected by the majority.
9
The English never remember and the Irish never forget...
18
If this is what Boris has always really wanted, then let him have it. He's earned it, he deserves it, so let it rip. Let the chips fall where they may and, for all we know, he might just pull it off. If he does, we'll all benefit.
Cheers!
2
As Mr. Trump said, about another snarl of policy, laws and economics, "Who knew healthcare was so complicated?"
Well, everybody who knew anything about it. At least Mr. Johnson has some government experience, unlike Mr. Trump, and apparently understands why heads of state should read.
The twin questions everybody's sidesaddling: first, would some brains and intellectual heft improve Mr. Trump or make him worse? Would Mr. Johnson be better or worse if he were less intelligent?
Even if our countries deserve the consequences of single-ply solutions exist to complicated problems, it's hard to believe we deserve whatever outcomes these guys will generate.
2
@Grennan Boris will Make Britain Great Again
Not being close to the intruques of British politics, I nevertheless disliked Boris Johnson's fake Non-U accent, that does not agree with his social and educational background. He is probably trying to appear closer to the plebs.
Europe does not go AWOL - absent without leave - in August. People are on legitimate holiday breaks. They got leave.
5
Boris Johnson is no Winston Churchill.
Heck even Winston Churchill was no Winston Churchill.
There was a great deal of distance between the virtues of the man of legend and the real man's many failures, flaws and foibles.
Do great events make great leaders?
Or do great leaders make great events?
Knowing that Boris Johnson is not as ignorant as Donald Trump is pretty weak 'praise.' Not being the dumbest person in every international leader's meeting event is available and open to anyone not named Trump.
Brexit is a self- inflicted socioeconomic political matter for the United Kingdom. Brexit is not a foreign existential threat of war and peace.
302
@Blackmamba
"Brexit is a self- inflicted socioeconomic political matter for the United Kingdom. Brexit is not a foreign existential threat of war and peace."
But brexit is not a matter solely affecting the UK. The European Project came about after the devastation of the second world war and its purpose is (among other things) to promote peace among the previously warring nations.
50
@Joan, Thank you. You are spot on.
16
@Blackmamba Having seen his description of his hobby of making toy buses out of cardboard boxes, I can't help wondering about his sanity. Waving the kipper didn't help either, especially as his information was incorrect.
8
Or to paraphrase Abba Eban, in a quote often attributed to Winston Churchill, "Men and nations behave wisely when they have exhausted all other resources.”
We can only hope that Boris Johnson does not, in fact, exhaust every option (regarding implementing Brexit) and wait until the very last minute to do what will be the right thing for Great Britain.
3
"Brexit. (Well, Iran may raise its head.)"
Boris and Donald would happily conspire to start something nasty with Iran as a way to distract their respective countries from the chaos and incompetence of their governance. Don't think they wouldn't because they would, blood and treasure notwithstanding.
11
Agreed. It is neither their blood nor treasure.
1
Not a fan of Winston Churchill, who was really an opportunist - but I give him this: he would have abhorred the lightweight clown Johnson.
5
The references to Johnson’s study of, and his book about Churchill balance between optimism and deep despair. Consider Churchill’s words “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’” Johnson now has a say in whether the British Commonwealth, as Churchill once envisioned it, lasts a thousand years or less than a century following that famous speech.
1
The majority of Brits voted for Brexit. Roger Cohen detests those who did but ought to learn from Abraham Lincoln:
“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
It's how Democracy works.
7
@Colonia
Pro-Brexit vote was 52%, with Russian interference.
If you so love majorities, you will no doubt agree that Clinton won the 2016 elections, and support the elimination of the Electoral College. The 2016 vote, All agree, was influenced by Russia in favor of trump.
8
As Johnson becomes PM with less than one percent of British subjects eligible to vote, and a non binding referendum is declared binding and immutable, we aren’t seeing “democracy”.
4
Compare this idiot, this clown, to Churchill, and weep for England, and for us.
5
The English are getting the leaders they so richly deserve: bumbling upper-class fools who lie to the electorate. For hundreds of years, their caste system has promoted the incompetent, who feel that to try to hard at something betrays the fact that they expect to get things because of who they are, not what they have accomplished. Perhaps this will be the catalyst for first reuniting Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland and then Scotland's secession, the latter perhaps moderated through some kind of local customs union. Maybe this will also be a gift to the common English man or woman, a sort of "emperor has no clothese" moment that shows they need to make wholesale changes to their society. One hundred years ago England still had the wealth and international influence to just muddle through. Now all that is gone, and the English, to be more than a second-rate nation, must find better leadership and make smarter decisions.
5
"Chiantishire" makes the article worthwhile!
5
God I love a circus.
2
Not a chance in hades.
Johnson's base is similar to Trump's in the echo chamber of bad ideas and seeing any critic as just fake news. And Johnson has the country's press behind him and a hard Brexit.
1
It seems many of your commentariat are intensely ambivalent about democracy. In my view, it's not democracy unless 49% of the people are hopping mad at least once in a while; for many others, democracy is legitimate only as long it produces the result desired by oneself, so if a vote doesn't go as they like, they want to have another.
This is understandable up to a point, but why stop with just one more vote? Were a second referendum to stop Brexit, what's to stop a third? I'm a lot closer to being completely serious than facetious. And, Second-Voters, what are you going to say some years from now when it's not the majority vote of a bunch of fools (as they, not I, see them) that gets overturned, but your own? Are you thinking ahead at all?
(I myself probably would have been a somewhat reluctant Remainer---an irrelevancy strangely worth the mention in the present day as bona fides becomes a wizened rarity.)
How sick I am of thoroughgoing partisanship, by which I mean having not just strong disagreement with your opponents but zero respect for them. If there's to be a second referendum, in my fantasy those enfranchised would be only those reversing their initial vote, since I find myself unable to trust committed partisans anymore. Inside every one is a totalitarian, or at the very least a self-righteous pig, wildly squealing to be let out.
6
@Dixon Pinfold
The UK needs a second (but no more) vote because the voters now know how much they were lied to by the Brexiteers and the Russians during the first referendum.
3
The referendum was never binding. How about the government just do its job and provide for leadership to a state of affairs that is best for the country? Which everyone knows is not a no deal Brexit.
1
@akamai
Ok, at least that's a reason.
Who's to say a second vote couldn't possibly save the situation and even strengthen British democracy? That's conceivable, but it would require so much luck as to be quite unattractive. An enormous risk is a 51% victory, either way. And any No victory might well instead inflict a lot of harm on British democracy and further inflame the country, for obvious reasons.
I know this sounds wishy-washy and it relies on opinion polling, but there'd better be at least 3:2 support for a second vote before it gets a go-ahead. Thanks for your reply.
I quite enjoy this farce. I am not English, mercifully. But I do want the English to get their comeuppance for all the misery of Empire and their rewriting of history to hide the fact. The Germans have a word for it. Schadenfreude, is it?
7
@Lycurgus
Leave off, please, with your Anglophobic comeuppance-ism. Billions around the world---myself decidedly not included---wish a similar fate on the US. Literally billions.
So if you don't want scattershot hatred mounting against your own country, which includes your no doubt perfectly upright and blameless self, stop mounting it against others. Schadenfreude means shameful joy.
10
How disheartening that in recent times the course of history has turned so frequently and disastrously on the egotistical necessities of a few big mouthed individuals rather than the legitimate expectations of the very many?
9
"The idea of Boris as Prime Minister is ridiculous." - Kenneth Clarke, who should be Prime Minister if any Tory, caught on a hot mic years ago
Mr. Cohen, I know you're trying to sound classical and literary, but who are "the gods" you keep referring to?
Please don't say "fate".
And we are not in a mythology class.
[If you mean "the people", just say so.]
1
@srwdm Maybe you could read some of Joseph Campbell.
1
Question 1: Can it be coincidence that Johnson has chosen Halloween as the day for Britain's withdrawal? Question 2: Will he replace the clown mask with something more appropriate to the occasion?
2
He didn’t choose Halloween, the date was agreed between May and the EU.
1
do you mean an "excess of statesmanship"? not an "access"??
1
Like other political spectators, I enjoy reading Cohen booing "bad" politicians, but that won't prevent similar problems in the future.
How can we prevent ignorant of racist persons from approving insane policies such as Brexit, or electing racists like Trump?
We need to take away the decision making from persons who are racists or ignorant and give it to the more educated, rational and ethical people -- better decision-makers mean better decisions.
I realize that means rejecting "one person/one vote," but, with problems like global heating upon us, we can't afford ignorant decisions .
4
The nation is just another Bullingdon playground to Boris.
1
It seems many of your commentariat are intensely ambivalent about democracy. In my view, it's not democracy unless 49% of the people are hopping mad at least once in a while; for many others, democracy is legitimate only as long it produces the result desired by oneself, so if a vote doesn't go as they like, they want to have another.
This is understandable up to a point, but why stop with just one more vote? Were a second referendum to stop Brexit, what's to stop a third? I'm a lot closer to being completely serious than facetious. And, Second-Voters, what are you going to say some years from now when it's not the majority vote of a bunch of idiots that gets overturned, but your own? Are you thinking ahead at all?
(I myself probably would have been a somewhat reluctant Remainer---an irrelevancy strangely worth the mention in the present day as bona fides becomes a wizened rarity.)
How sick I am of thoroughgoing partisanship, by which I mean having not just strong disagreement with your opponents but zero respect for them. If there's to be a second referendum, in my fantasy those enfranchised would be only those reversing their initial vote, since I find myself unable to trust committed partisans anymore. Inside every one is a totalitarian, or at the very least a self-righteous pig, wildly squealing to be let out.
1
His hair will surely save him.
1
Don't you mean "excess of statesmanship" instead of "access of statesmanship"?
What does "... an access of statesmanship..." mean? It is an odd locution...
At least Boris Johnson is optimistic, amiable, and amusing. He ran London very well, and the Olympic games were delightful. Prime Minister May was a real 'no-hoper.' She looked so nervous around the Europeans and Donald Trump. I always felt she was subverting Britain in some way. I don't think the British will miss her.
1
@Redneck
Maybe she knew Brexit would never work, but was forced to play her part. You'd look miserable too.
3
Thank you for including Trump’s outrageous Afghanistan comment concerning the deaths of millions. He said it yesterday. And somehow, because of the drip drip drip development of shocking statements no longer holding shock value, it indeed is Yesterday’s news.
The Good Friday agreement is likely in peril. Mr. Johnson will likely bluster his way to continued media sound bites but unlikely as egregious as what Trump said yesterday.
Words matter. Still.
2
"The gods, when they are most cruel, also laugh."
This could be the motto for the current age. Unfortunately, Cohen simply tosses it off. But what could it actually mean? Why do the gods chortle at the times of greatest human travail?
In the context of Brexit, there is probably at least a hint of irony. England has imposed eons of suffering and exploitation on Ireland. Now the cumulative absurdities of historical injustice have provided an insurmountable barrier to the achievement of Brexit: the so-called backstop, a temporary administrative fail-safe mechanism that can never go away. The hilarious beauty of the situation is that, after decades of futile guerilla struggle, this barrier is entirely self-executing and required no aggression from Ireland.
The bigger principle behind cosmic humor is of course the absurdity of human pride and our claims to omnicompetence. Humans think that they can, without divine aid, solve any problem and meet any challenge. BoJo is a clownish but apt example of this attitude, believing that he can unravel the knot of Brexit by simply invoking the ghost of Winston Churchill. The gods are duly amused. Who can blame them?
On a greater level of generality the disaster of human hubris is cumulative. Seldom do we encounter a single colossal failure. Rather, over time we see an expanding pile of partial successes, each with loud claims of victory but unresolved issues quietly deferred for later resolution.
Funny, that's exactly where we are now.
6
Tony Blair and George W. Bush formed a Coalition of the Willing.
Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are likely to form a Coalition of the Whining.
6
"Jeremy Corbyn’s awful Labour Party"
There is nothing awful about it.
We need more of that here, and we are likely to get some.
Britain if its lucky will get Labour next.
4
As it is turning out, the most trenchant way to kill a democracy or a vote is a 49/51 split.
1
'Hubris' and 'nemesis' might be familiar words to Boris, but definitely not to Donald.
Did we all notice the first person "I" that the President used in his boastful threat - ".....Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth, it would be gone, it would be over in literally 10 days."?
Brave words, indeed, from a guy who bone-spurred his way out of the Vietnam War.
What would be an apt analogy for the comeuppance that awaits both these characters is
HUMPTY DUMPTY.
That both can understand.
9
I knew a few people like him at boarding school and university in England, as I am sure, Mr Cohen, you did. I just never expected them to ever really be running the country. The outcome would have been predictable. I am not as sanguine as you - knowing that you are far from it. Unfortunately, Brexit is an action there is no going back on. Mr Putin must be ecstatic.
7
Boris Johnson may be smart. But he has no character. That’s a problem, don’t you think?
4
The English often said their colonial subjects were incapable of ruling themselves. A bit of comeuppance ain't tardy.
7
What is worse than presidents and prime ministers who lie? The predominance of a liberal media that will refuse to report leadership's lies, criminal dealings, and mistakes.
A great example of the last two Democrat presidents pesents itself: when Pres. Clinton got into trouble with Miss Lewinski, the east coast press, CBS News, and all their wannabe partners wouldn't tell the voters.
That responsibility fell to Matt Drudge, who remains the first place most people go for the latest believable news, along with the RealClear websites.
When Pres. Obama's Departments of Justice, Treasury, State, Defense, and others were converted into political action warehouses in a quiet war against the Tea Party, it fell to Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, and then Fox News to clue the voters in on over a dozen serious scandals.
Every time the biased news outlets cry about leaders' lies, such as this piece does here, that is our reminder that without an honest media telling the truth, lies are the LEAST of our worries.
@The Observer
In 2019, to focus on Democratic lies, criminal acts, etc. is hilarious.
But, you are right. We must have an unbiased, muck-raking press.
1
@The Observer
And this has what to do with oped's focus on Boris' limited options? What lies in this piece are you referring to?
The assumption made is that a second referendum would return a victory for remain. That's uncertain. And if that were to happen, then what?
Much as the parallel here in the States, where the obvious - and only possible - thing to do is vote out Trump, there's a good chance it won't happen. Hard to believe, but
2
It is so rare to see people get exactly what they deserve and if Brexit ends up being even half as disastrous as predicted, it looks like Mr. Johnson might be one of the unfortunate few who does.
3
The reality just might be that the horse is out of the barn for the UK...investors are already fleeing, so the inevitable collapse of this deal or a hard Brexit will only strengthen this trend.
For those in search of the conventional wisdom on Johnson go no further than this piece by Mr Cohen. I, like many, have grave misgivings about a Johnson premiership, but against that is the fact that it is not a very easy thing to become Britain’s prime minister (so he has, at least, some of the essentials of leadership) and that he might just surprise us, on the up side.
Roger Cohen, hoping you're correct that Hair Furor Boris Johnson, the new Prime Minister of Blighty will face "a swift and bloody nemesis"! Our Mother country across the pond is going through tough times now. And so is the Land of the Free over here. Alas, we can't count on Donald Trump meeting his nemesis any time soon. Tomorrow,The Special Counsel will be grilled in the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees (led by the Democratic Paty) and either he will lay out bread crumbs to lead to the gingerbread house of Trump Nemesis or delight the Republican Party and their Hair Furor leader that the "Witch Hunt" is over and "the case is closed". As our unfit, unlettered president often says, "we'll see in a short period of time". On both sides of the Atlantic today, we're thinking "emesis", and not "nemesis".
6
Econ 101 on Brexit
Who will lose under Brexit in Britain ?
1. The Financial Sector. I.e. the ritzy bankers in the City of London that besides regular services hide the money of Russian Oligarchs and Dictators from various Stans in a web of Channel Islands, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories
If the U.K. is unable to strike a deal for the financial sector, London's title as the financial hub of Europe will cease.
Market insight company MLex estimates 13,500 U.K. companies rely on passporting, many of them without knowing it.
2. Who will gain under Brexit in Britain ?
To cite Paul Krugman
"We might also note that there would be some winners from Brexit,,,, it would mean a bigger manufacturing sector, which would be a benefit to industrial regions
I agree
Summary
The costs of Brexit will fall mostly be paid by the Rich in London that make money hiding the misbegotten gains of Russian Oligarchs
On the other hand it will help workers
And thus reduce INEQUALITY in Britain.
Personally, I consider this a positive development
------------
For those interested in how the London Financial Sector enables the Super Rich escape taxes I recommend
Moneyland By Oliver Bullough.
Reviewed by The Economist
Excerpt : the real scandal is the way ritzy bankers, lawyers, accountants and PR people enable money stolen in poor, ill-run countries to be invested in rich, safe ones.
3
@Woof
But
Then
That is not what UK effectively become a country during Thatcher free market capitalism era and afterwards.
in short what UK economy means in terms of financial industry is all about.
UK has been living that dream last 30 years. now with Brexit dream ends , UK wakes up to earning money in hard way. However a country does not have a land , earning money from hard way means excruciatingly painful.
It's been so painful to watch the Brexit mayhem from afar. A simple yes or no meant that the British people had no idea what they were voting for. A bill of goods was sold to them describing Great Britain of being robbed of millions of Euros by the EU. Why do people always think that saving money in government budgets means that it will wind up in their own pockets instead? Reaganomics as practiced by M Thatcher, bankrupted safety nets including British schools and the NHS. It would seem that no one rational is currently working in Parliament. Theresa May struggled to come up with the deal acceptable to Brussels and it annoyed me greatly that Britain couldn't simply be told what Brussels would accept and go from there. A post Brexit Britain will not be pretty but people have not honestly been prepared for the inevitable chaos and economic disaster. Johnson now has a new toy to play with. So what will happen when he becomes bored with it? A second referendum is the only chance they have and it's puzzling why the government doesn't see it.
4
The idea of a second referendum is wishful thinking. There is no significant faction within the Conservative Party that is in favor of "Remain"; the dispute is between the "moderates" and the "hard-liners" on how to go about Brexit, but they're agreed on the end-goal of Brexit itself. Given that, the political reality for Johnson is pretty stark; either (1) Brexit will proceed without a significant hitch and with only minor damage to the British economy, or (2) the Conservatives will get trounced in the next national elections and Jeremy Corbyn will be the next Prime Minister. Johnson didn't run from the job of PM, so he clearly thinks he can accomplish (1). But the hard-liners have wreaked havoc on this process so far, and I'm skeptical that Johnson can get them in line in time.
2
@Rick -- "But the hard-liners have wreaked havoc on this process so far, and I'm skeptical that Johnson can get them in line in time."
Then perhaps he'll get the moderates in line. They are not automatically the winners.
2
And, as they thunder down the home stretch, the United States and Great Britain are neck and neck in the Minority Rule Futility Stakes.
Will new jockey Boris go to the whip hand in the hope of bringing Britain home in front of the lumbering but inexorable US? Stay tuned for the cloud of dust at the finish line of a race no one should want to win, or even to have participated in.
6
I'm wondering if this wave of political chaos - in UK, America, parts of Europe, and Australia, to name but a few - isn't about more than nationalism and xenophobia and authoritarian tendencies. I wonder if what we're experiencing is a struggle to define the trajectory of the human experience in the 21st century itself. Like jet lag, there is a time lag in the transition between eras, even a generational time lag, and I wonder if that's not what we're seeing here. I hope we get it right, but it's not looking great. Us oldsters ought to listen more to the youngsters who are going to have to live out their lives in the world we leave to them, and talk less about making things that were never so great, great once more.
11
@David -- The last century obscured that sort of transformation with WW1. The century before obscured it with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
That is not an encouraging pattern.
4
@David
In a society, just as in a family of parents and children, the onus for consideration is on everyone, with no exceptions. When generational conflict simmered down in the eighties and nineties, it looked like that was sinking in, and it was fairly heartening.
But I've learned about the shocking rarity of truly considerate people and now accept I was wrong to ever expect anything but a master and servant mentality to prevail for long. When the old have the power (think gerontocratic China, with its obey-your-parents ethic embedded for millennia) they stomp all over the young. When the young have it (think my elders, the baby boomers) they abuse the old and middle-aged with open derision for what they value.
A warning for the stridently self-righteous know-nothing know-it-all young of the present day: Bully and be bullied. They're coming for you one day, in just a couple of decades, and to some degree you'll deserve it.
And yet it moves. Galileo. 1633?
I don't disagree with any of Cohen's sneering contempt for Johnson. However, Cohen wrongly assumes that Prime Minister Johnson is trapped in the binary choice of Brexit Deal or No Deal. Surely that's a false dichotomy - we are talking, after all, about a man who invents whatever suits his immediate needs. I'm sure he has already forgotten any promises made to get elected and if, a few months from now, it helps his cause to cancel or postpone Brexit I'm sure he will cavalierly do so. And blame somebody else whilst doing it.
In the movie Speed, this was known as "shooting the hostage". Boris already has some hostages in mind.
4
The best comment I read after Trump was elected went something like:
England: Brexit is the stupidest, most self destructive act a country could undertake.
US: Hold my beer...
Now they've got Boris Johnson. I guess they saw Trump and said, "We can top that! Hold my pint."
24
Does the EU want them back? That is the question. Perhaps the EU should be holding an election too. It may hurt English pride, but they not wanted anyway! Problem solved.
4
Until Oct 31st it is the UK’s decision alone.
American leftists have it figured--their friends in the EU are an unmovable monolith so Britain is butting its head against a stone wall; might as well just give up. Is this actually true, or just a point of view that serves the political purposes of the left? Are American leftists cheering for their EU pals in the hope that Johnson fails and they can say they told us so and use his defeat as a battle cry against their real enemy, Mr. Trump?
3
Weird spin since quite literally neither one has anything to do with the other.
5
@Ronald B. Duke And your problem is....?
2
By “leftists” do you mean people with functioning brain cells and a moral compass? Perhaps you just give anyone who opposes the self destructive far right that designation?
6
I'm so glad that Johnson won and now he can help destroy England with a hard Brexit. This buffoonish Trump-clone will drive the final nail in the coffin for merry old England. At the least, the severely devalued pound will make exports of goods to America dirt cheap until Trump puts tariffs on all England-made products. Now Northern Ireland can reunify with Ireland and Scotland hopefully will declare independence and rejoin the EU. Halloween will be London's and the rest of England's biggest nightmare holiday. Boo!
6
First Italy with Berlusconi, then the US with Trump, now England with Johnson. So hard to watch. Is the Western world collapsing?
7
@Bitter Mouse Don't be bitter. Before you can tackle 21C. world problems you have to restructure and collapse the present political order. No more Berlusconi, Trump, Johnson, Putin, Netanyahu, etc. Get rid of the old guys bring in intelligent, young men and women who will serve all of humanity, not their own egos and greed. Yes, right now the Western world is collapsing, but it must if we are to progress into better future.
1
@Bitter Mouse
It probably is, but you can go back to your Boris Johnson sketch and erase the horns. If he stays in office, expect his net influence to be stabilizing and cheering. Things may worsen during his tenure, but less, I think, than under May or Corbyn. Remember that conservative doesn't generally mean in the UK what it means in the US.
At any rate, I find him far less unimpressive than his enemies, which may not be saying much, but there you have it. Keep a close eye and you can add the horns back if and when he's earned them.
@Dixon Pinfold
Your reply is weird, given the article's evidence that he's got limited options re: Brexit. Are you saying that you agree with the author that he may pull back from a hard Brexit?
Singapore goes it alone, with a free trade policy with anyone who wants to trade with it. It's not part of any union. It's a spectacular success, one of the Asian Tigers.
Perhaps UK should try that.
5
Mr. Cohen puts a good case very well.
One flaw inherent in too many very intelligent people, especially when part of the recognized establishment but deeming themselves free of any sense of noblesse oblige, is that they think that they can bluff their way around any impediment to the attainment of any goal of the moment.
I would modify the Cohen assessment by noting that Johnson is a needy sociopath whose fallback position is time & again that just described.
This is especially problematic in the current Brexit related context because time is very short, too many domestic & foreign opponents are determined to thwart both Johnson & the initiatives/threats he will deploy, the only deal that Johnson might offer & that the EU might accept is a Brexit date extension of a couple of months to facilitate preparation for a less chaotic transition.
Johnson isn't capable of the sort of quick back down for which the situation calls. All concerned, including Johnson himself once the gravity & hopelessness of his chosen route becomes brutally apparent, can only hope that the Conservative Government falls within a few days & Brexit is abandoned in the ensuing chaos.
2
Johnson will be incompetent and embarrassing but difficult to remove... facts, truths, gaffs, insults, lies, slurs, punch-ups, evidence of malpractice etc etc no longer count in democratic politics. he will get away with it...
5
Boris Johnson is not a classical scholar. He graduated with a second class degree from Oxford and wrote a sloppy book about Rome combined with his anti-EU screeds.
14
"A swift and bloody nemesis" indeed. Trump and his Republicans deserve such a nemesis (though Trump's critics certainly do not) but Trump's poodle Johnson and the citizens of the UK will undergo it (including sadly Scotland which fiercely opposes Brexit). This will be the post-war era all over again. The pain for UK citizens will be epic. For American tourists, however, it will be $25-a-night bed and breakfasts in London again.
Johnson is an un-leader, from a fact-free universe. His journalism from Brussels was rife with pro-conservative lies. The basis of Brexit is demagoguery, that is, false populism. NPR reported today that Johnson musses himself up intentionally before making public appearances.
UK conservatives are, roughly, like American centrists. They are not charging women who get abortions with murder, or compelling rape victims to carry the rapist's embryo to term. Does Johnson really want to be the poodle of the inept and unfit man who is himself Putin's poodle?
Johnson is better educated and more knowledgeable than Trump. But does he lie any better? Does he resort to white supremacist hate any more amiably? Is his party a personality cult? Given Johnson's time as foreign secretary, he doesn't look more competent than our present administration.
8
Is it time to build my bomb shelter know?
2
There should be a remain-or-leave parliamentary election, not a referendum. England is a parliamentary monarchy, not a direct democracy.
2
Cohen has glossed over "the backstop" and fails to mention that Northern Ireland—along with Scotland—voted to remain.
Here is hoping Johnson succeeds in leaving with no deal as it will bring about the unification of Ireland.
12
I believe Elvis McGonagall said it best.
https://youtu.be/0QOD89IwcIU
The citizens of the UK voted for Brexit, Thersa May then ran an election on Brexit, deal or not, but today still no Brexit. The EU needs a deal with the UK as much if not more than the UK needs a deal with the EU. Theresa May foolishly pulled no-deal Brexit off the table as negotiations began. The EU's predictable reaction was intransigence. Macron is a fading force in France. Merkel is almost done in Germany. There is a new EU president. The October deadline is perfect for negotiating an acceptable compromise.
6
@Wilbur Clark
The citizens of the UK were given obfuscating information about the Brexit deal. A do-over, with full, accurate, truthful information about the economic ramifications is the only good alternative.
4
@Wilbur Clark
Why should the EU concede anything to the UK? Both sides will take a hit economically, but the UK seems destined to suffer the most. Politically, it makes no sense for them to allow a "soft landing" precedent for any countries considering a similar move.
As a Brit also, I am glad that we are finally taking this once in a lifetime opportunity to declare independence from the stifling bureaucracy in Brussels and chart our own course again as Britons. If that means a slight, temporary drop on the economy, then so be it. I'm not sure if Boris is the right person to do this, but at least he seems not to be another characterless consensus seeker, like May.
12
@Bryan, well then, good luck. And good night, Britain.
21
@Bryan
Longshanks is dead. It's no longer true that Scotland and Ireland have no choice save to touch the cap to London. It's fairly clear you make the age old mistake of thinking "britain" means England
22
@Bryan: well, "Tally-Ho!", then. Stiff upper lip, whot, when your "slight, temporary drop on the economy" proves to be not so slight and not so temporary.
39
Seems likely that there will be a no-deal Brexit before anything else can happen. Then chaos, Scotland holds another leave Great Britain election, chaos in England, Scotland leaves, more chaos in England, violence again in N Ireland, N. Ireland leave, more chaos in England, and then who knows what. Throw in Queen Elizabeth's inevitable death in the next few years and the lack of support for Charles as King, and you wonder about the truth of, "There will always be an England."
30
I hope so. The Brits are like a great play Drama everyday. The British ruled the modern world, now they seem a bit confused about what their children (countries) are doing. Britain is an example of falling asleep. Wake up Brits we need your experience. Cheerio
1
Many have speculated that Johnson might suddenly discover his inner hero and, at risk to his long sought job, enrage his acolytes, lead his country to forgo the economic and social disaster that would follow Brexit. But, real heroism is offered by those who both subsume and set aside natural fear for the benefit of the cause of others. It may all happen in a moment, but they recognize the personal risk and then take it.
Johnson, like his fellow demagogue, Trump, is just a snake oil salesman, albeit better educated, who is confident that after each of his lies is uncovered, he’ll find another that the rubes will buy.
And, so far . . . so far anyway, it’s worked for both of them. But, sooner or later, the townspeople realize that they’ve been played as fools and drive the snake oil salesman out of town. Hopefully, not too many of us have died from the snake oil before the resolution.
10
@Max from Mass
Trump would just try and blame the equivalent of a Brexit disaster on his enemies and the lyin' media. Boris is younger and undoubtedly wants to be relevant longer. I'm wondering if he might try and "negotiate" with the EU for a "better deal" to remain, while essentially not changing anything (see Trump's new NAFTA).
1
@MarcS
I agree, that's a reasonable scenario. And the "new Nafta" is a good example, albeit not yet ratified. But so many other EU members are so fed up with negotiating pointlessly with the UK, that a enough could just want to not even offer any fig leaf, but just let the UK fall apart post Brexit as an example to other members to toe the line.
With that possibility, would Johnson cave and abandon Brexit and pehaps lose his job or call a new vote that points that referses Brexit and then lose his job? Or lead a full Brexit and then lose his job in the aftermath? But, to your point, he's almost certain to apply his best magical thinking skills and oleaginous presenation to the task.
@Max from Mass
I totally agree that there's no political reason for the EU to make Brexit easy (for the reason you stated). I'm not informed enough to say whether or not there's any way that Boris and the EU could come out of this with a "win/win", but I tend to agree that it's a long shot. Boris will worry about Boris. Maybe he thinks his best bet will be not as a politician, but as a Fox "pundit".
The British have now fallen into the gutter joining the US.
8
Maybe Boris will stop seizing Iranian ships as they pass Gibraltar. That will reduce some of the load.
1
The likelihood of Boris Johnson becoming statesman-like upon his ascension to Prime Minister is about as likely as Trump resigning the Presidency, i.e. effectively zero. He will always do the opposite to good sense. There's a reason he never talked about his time as Foreign Secretary in the hustings.
As a dual-national I don't know what's worse, what's happening in the US or what's happening in the UK? All I know is that its' going to take decades to repair the UK's standing in international politics.
16
@Paul
Ha! Remember all that chatter about how Trump would "pivot" after the election and suddenly become statesmanlike?
How likely is Boris to pivot, I wonder?
6
There are three actors giving alternative renditions of the same play: Vladimir Putin, Boris Johnson, and Donald Trump.
All three rule over countries where the populations are split into factions with quite different views of reality. All three have aligned themselves with one faction in their country, declaring that faction to be the only true patriots and making it clear that they represent only that faction. All three remain in power because their favored faction has bought heavily into an alternative narrative where they really are the only true citizens and therefore deserve special powers and rights.
I don't know enough about Boris Johnson, but Trump and Putin are demanding and getting powers far beyond democratic norms. They assure their supporters that once they have enough power they will be able to suppress the "others" and peace and unity will return to society.
I heard excerpts of Johnson's speech after the vote. He is promising that once he has power, all Brits will unite behind his vision of the UK's glorious future. I think that he is smart enough to know that only through force will he be able to make the general populace pretend they support his glorious leadership.
6
Thank you, Mr. Cohen, for choosing to note a glimmer of hope in this stunning fiasco. If Mr. Johnson is indeed the student of history you suggest, he does indeed have an opportunity (but that is all he has,, really) : Call the second referendum, be a hero in history.
343
@Robin Alas, I fear Boris is a moral coward who places himself, his party and his country in a descending order of importance.
We in Britain, or at least what will remain of it, will pay the price.
29
@Warren
I guess the question is whether he's smart enough to see that a hard Brexit will be a political disaster, and whether his narcissism will compel him to find another way out. He's younger than Trump and wants further glory.
9
@Robin
Mr. Johnson may be a student of history, but he's a poor student, as his political record bears out. In fact, he's one of those students who keeps failing upwards, with his previous teachers, eager to be rid of him, passing him along to create havoc in someone else's classroom.
29
I was in London last October and had a sample of what I call the "Brexit look." My cousins, both left and right, gave me the look when I asked them what was going to happen. They said, with the look, it's all going to work out, staring into somewhere like people who know they are going to die, without any chance of reprieve, in the very near future. I also saw the look on the face of a woman having an early wine in our hotel bar, from Yorkshire, successful in business, traveling for a bit because she can. Same look. I use it in my classes to describe the faces of students when I ask them a question that is too hard. The description works perfectly as a device. But they still don't answer the question.
Great piece.
577
@KBronson
A better analogy would be that the people voted to have all the teeth pulled because they believed their lying dentists that the expensive and unwieldy dentures would be a better idea.
Maybe it's time to get a second opinion from the public before the damage is done.
137
@gwalker2191 great comment. "Putting a Brave Face on it" I guess. It's a disaster but some folks can't admit it.
38
@KBronson
You may be right about pulling teeth or getting an immunization shot. I think you are wrong about the effect of voluntary amputation.
5
It is always a pleasure to read Mr. Cohen's lucid and beautifully written columns, if only this particular occasion warranted optimism.
It's not just the UK; our entire planet will soon face a terrible reckoning. Like a sick patient who refuses to recognize a dire diagnosis, we continue to do what we've always done, ignoring impending environmental and financial calamity, even as we engage in sentimental nostalgia for a misremembered past. As a classical scholar, Boris Johnson would do well to revisit the myth of Cassandra.
759
@jrinsc: Exactly; the problem is Johnson thinks he’s Achilles but doesn’t think the arrow aimed at him will find its mark.
30
@jrinsc At least Johnson will know who Cassandra is. America has the woefully under-educated trump.
80
@jrinsc
HH Munro, an English satirist of Edwardian society, said that Cassandra died with an "I told you so", smile on her face. The English seem to be in the same cycle of bad decisions that led to WW I.
45
Good god. Let's not make this an alternate reality of the "Years and Years" series.
1
Russian “buffer states” (Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, etc) asked to join NATO.
Russia is smart. Russia plays chess. The Russian leader is the former head of the KGB. The Russians don’t want a united NATO sitting on the Russian border.
Trump is Putin. Boris is Putin. The AfD is Putin. He seeks the breakup of the liberal world order, and he’s winning.
25
A second referendum is a lose-lose proposition for a Prime Minister. If it comes out against Brexit, his party and nearly half the country will hate him for attempting to undo the first referendum and contest the outcome of the second. If it come out for Brexit, he will be seen as wavering and weakened and nothing has changed anyway.
The only way to win is to write the letter to the EU withdrawing Theresa May's Article 50 letter.
He will be crucified for it now, but in history he would prevail.
7
It all comes down to Northern Ireland. If the British let go, they can have Brexit and be an island-state. If they hold on (and don't want another terror war), they have to follow the EU's lead. That's the hard truth - the elephant in the room - that nobody wants to acknowledge. Maybe it's time to let all of Ireland be Irish... but would Boris ever have the guts to admit that?
11
@Robert Schechtman There's also Scotland too. I'd bet money that if N Ireland goes, Scotland goes.
The English can play darts in their pubs and buy their energy from the Scots.
8
"It is a moment of perfect symbolism: a man without a conviction for a country without a direction, a man of self-destructive tendencies for a country in the vise of a crippling decision. The gods, when they are most cruel, also laugh."
Mr. Cohen, you have been calling for for some time a second referendum now that the people have finallly understood the consequences of their first referendum vote (illicitly "sold" to the public via lies about the exit's impact.)
Would Johnson actually embrace that, since May refused to do so? It would certainly be a Hail Mary pass to avoid an immediate debacle.
Like you, I feel the British voters were cheated in 2016. Like you, I feel Britain's youth will be the ones to suffer the most, if a new "little England" is plagued with commerce and customs fights, and much lowered standard of living.
Johnson should just do it--while he still has time to show Britons they don't have to head over a cliff.
7
There is no other option - a referendum, or take a substantial portion of the population who will strongly oppose all possible Brexit options, including the pain of the no deal, and give them what they don't want.
6
@SusanStoHelit The thing I don't understand is where the British post-Brexit get their geopolitical heft? They will no longer be a part of Europe, and while they'll remain a member of NATO, that's lead by the US.
The Empire is history, what's their claim to fame or prominence, yorkshire pudding? the Midlands?
4
@BillG The UK will have more geopolitical heft outside the EU, within it they are constrained by the France and Germany. The UK was never dominant in either NATO or the EU, so this will make no difference.
2
Trump is a canny devious negotiator. Why would he give the UK a good deal for the UK, when the UK will be desperate for new trade deals of any kind?
5
@Nb
Trump's negotiating tactic always is to draw his opponent out on a limb, then let them dangle until they are desperate to agree to onerous conditions that are roundly in Trump's favor.
He will do the same with Britain and devour them alive.
5
Are you serious?
Churchill was a lion and performed more than "a single act of bravery."
13
And well before he became PM
'Europe' goes AWOL in August? No it doesn't. It goes AWL: "Absent With Leave", not "Absent WithOut Leave".
This is just one more thing about that far distant and oh-so-alien continent you anglo-saxon folks may never understand.
The Irish and the Scots understand us. They know exactly how we feel. They are in the same boat we are in, and have always been, throughout history. England wasn't. The English ruled an empire. Before they ruled an empire, they ruled the Irish and the Scots. England would always be. Safe and sound behind it's moat. No matter how badly the clowns in charge were running the country.
Winston Churchill once wrote that the only reason Germany still exists, is because of the German's splendid army. He was a military man (educated at Sandhurst). Naturally he overlooked the economic aspects. If you don't run your country reasonably well, you won't have any money. No money, no army (splendid or otherwise). In Europe, if you didn't run your country well, your neighbors came, and did the job for you. This was a danger England never faced. A danger Europeans no longer face, because of the EU. Just like that August vacation, the English may never really understand this.
England should leave the EU.
Then maybe the English will understand that they are Europeans. China, India and the USA will be teaching them, in the school of hard knocks.
81
@TD And Northern Ireland and Scotland should secede from England!!
13
@TD Oh, the English know they are Europeans, but they also know they are not Continentals.
No better Brexit deal is possible because Britain has no leverage now. The only way out is forward-end negotiations and make a precipitous Brexit before October 31. Enforce the Irish border only against none Irish/UK nationals and against goods not at all. Best to do it in the middle of the French August siesta making an effective counter strike impossible. Non customs enforcement would create an effective free trade zone until the Eurocrats managed to exert control from their side.
The Europeans would then be under pressure to negotiate. Britain would be a sovereign nation again. Business would adapt.
2
The most recent polls show the Leave and Remain camps running neck-and-neck. Significantly also, 9% of the undecideds do not wish to see delays to Brexit beyond October 31. These two bits of information mean that if Boris Johnson is able to deliver even a No-Deal Brexit, he would most likely get to stay in No. 10 Downing Street for five years courtesy of the grateful 9% who’ve found the whole process a bit of a bother.
@Aspartic
I'm not in it - but it seems to me that most of the "Leave" camp want different things - some want no deal, or are good with it, others want to "Leave" because it'll mean there's no more issues with health care costs, or supporting immigrants, because politicians have told them that England can magically negotiate the "Leave" to keep all the benefits of EU without any negatives.
My guess is that the "Leave" camp only has about 20% or so of true "Leave" - as in, no deal, whatever the impact is, we are good with it. The rest want "Leave" because they see it eliminating some part of the EU that they don't like, while keeping what they do like. They won't be happy with the no deal. They've been sold a negotiated Brexit that keeps what they want to keep.
4
I am more than skeptical regarding a Churchillian Johnson. My hope is that Scotland holds an autonomy election that breaks away from England and that Northern Ireland unifies with the South. Knowing that it is far less likely, I would hope that the people of Wales realize that they cant absorb this Brexit absurdity and declare independence as well. In fact it might be nice to see Cornwall and Northumbria also break off. Let the bigots who voted to leave the EU come to know what being a Little Englander really means.
149
@Greg Jones
The problem for Scotland is, should they revisit their own leave referendum, is that Spain has vowed to veto their entrance into the EU, fearing their own inability to hold onto the two most economically dynamic provinces, both long hungering for independence, the Basque Countries and Catalunya.
Maybe Scotland can adjoin itself to Ireland, too. They can call themselves the Greater Gaels, or, more pointedly,
F.England.
12
@Paul
What a great idea! It would also calm the fears of Protestants in NI that they would be absorbed within an overwhelmingly Catholic country.
4
@MarcS
With marriage equality and legalized abortion, Eire has finally repaid the Catholic Church with the back of the hand, equalling the contempt with which the Catholic Church always treated the Irish people.
I don’t think the NI Protestants have anything to fear from the Catholic majority.
Though I am an atheist of Polish-Jewish extraction, I have always had a strong affinity for Ireland. In high school, my homeroom and senior English writing teacher was Frank McCourt, whose memoir, Angela’s Ashes, reduced me to tears.
Later, I was an exchange student at Trinity College, Dublin. The best teacher I had there forty years ago was David Norris, then one of Ireland’s very rare gay activists. He later became a Senator and even candidate for President. He paved the way for Leo Varadakar, the current gay Taoiseach, or Prime Minister.
12
What a horrible teaching moment for the young people of Britain and those who believe that not voting won't make a difference. If the "stayers" had put their phones down and paid attention to what was happening to their future maybe this would all be academic. But they didn't, so the oldest and most gullible conservatives who did vote made the decision for them. I hope America gets the lesson for next year.
88
@markd. Excellent observation and good
point.
3
Johnson "... must pull off the do-or-die miracle he’s likened to a moon landing."
The moon landing was much more thought out and much better prepared for. And easier.
31
Boris Johnson apparently cannot manage his own life, let alone a whole country. Good luck. You're going to need it.
21
Boris Johnson is the living embodiment of Marx's quote about history happening first as tragedy and then as farce.
63
I wonder how much the English supporters of Brexit see it as an English issue not a UK issue. It appears the English supporters don't seem to think that the opinions of those in Scotland and Northern Ireland, who opposed it by larger majorities than it passed by, matter in the least. Imperialists to the last I guess.
18
@Philip
If present trends continue the dog will end up tailless won't it?
6
@DavidWiles
That part makes sense. If you are in a democracy, then the votes of the majority of the citizens should matter. Not one group or another given a higher weight.
1
@DavidWiles Dog still survives. Tail doesnt. funny how this plays.
Boris Johnson, the 2019 face of England, frumpy, frazzled, discombobulated, a rumpled blonde bull in a china shop, clueless, unable to forge a direction for this once revered nation, a ship full of fools now foundering in some long dead vision of what Great Britain once was.
Will he right this ship and re-educate himself and its passengers; seems highly unlikely.
Unless common sense crawls out of somewhere, the fast approaching Brexit creation will tear open the once stable economic hull of England laying bare its folly.
34
First Trump, now Boris Johnson. Putin must be overjoyed for having succeeded in bringing these two useful idiots to power and help Russia, well really Putin, achieve his aims.
77
The possibility of
'Boris san principles cum legendary opportunist calling for a new referendum on Brexit'
is exactly what I mentioned yesterday in my published comment on a related piece in NYTimes.com.
2
Since Mr. Cohen is British, it would have been helpful if he had tried to explain or at least offer some thoughts on why Mr. Johnson won. In this way, it's like a lot of commentary about Trump. Too many journalists and others seem to miss the main story, which is that he won, and did so playing by the rules. Or are we going to say Mr. Johnson also colluded with some as of yet unnamed power? Political journalists are supposed to practice journalism, and try to explain what is happening as best they can. But somehow, these days, that is apparently beneath them.
4
@Cobble Hill The story of how he won the Conservative Party leadership vote isn't all that interesting to be fair. He has always been popular among his party's members. The more interesting story for people not familiar with UK politics is that he's become PM because he got 60 percent of the party member vote, which translates into fewer than 90,000 people, and with an average age of 72.
67
@D MooreWell that's my point. I just learned a lot more from your comment, assuming it's right, than from Mr. Cohen's article. Over at the WSJ, Tunku V. (since I don't want to check on the spelling), offers another explanation. Essentially, he says the Brits think they created a great civilization, and are leery of losing it. Fair enough. Personally, I don't have an opinion about Brexit, though I am not uninformed. My wife and I were in Brussels a few years ago, and she said how much it had changed, when she as a European national at the time, would travel there. It was obvious that a lot of lobbying money had come in, much like on K Street in D.C. Is that such a good thing? On the other hand, the EU has clearly helped the periphery, where growth has been quite significant, basically justifying standard, neo-classical economics. Capital went to where it was scarce, and labor, went to where (in its variations) was scarce. But the politics are shakier, and I guess that's what drove Brexit. Anyway, back to my point, I was just looking for an informed explanation.
1
Perhaps the UK will now need to decide what is the greatest existential threat.
A hard Brexit or a Hard left government that saves Britain from itself....if only for a moment.
Something is going to give, and the media will play its part as it did in the first referendum.
Either way Britain, if not the UK, will survive and likely no bullets will fly.
That is the beauty of democracy even when it appears insane from the sidelines, its heart still beats.
1
In England as in the US, it’s not just the person on top, but also a nation that voted for him to get there. Donald Trump won the election. Britain voted for Brexit. While the majority in both countries may not agree with the final outcome, there are obviously enough people who voted for this outcome to make it a reality. And that is something to be very scared of!
18
@SG
It should also be noted that neither Trump or Johnson won a majority election. And, yes, that is something to be very scared of.
18
Unlike the situation in the US a majority of Brits did vote for Brexit. The question is why: part of the answer lies in watching the profoundly undemocratic farce that installed a has-been German politician, Ursula von der Leyen, as leader of the EU; part lies in watching the EU behave like an imperial power when it imposed destructive austerity on Greece. Remainers like Cohen want to stay in an idealised EU that is essentially a glorified version of NAFTA, unfortunately that is not the real EU. The real EU is a fundamentally undemocratic bureaucracy which wants to create a United States of Europe, most Europeans want no part of that. The UK as a net contributor to the EU budget has the ability to opt out.
Once the dust has settled we will see that a no deal Brexit is actually not as bad as the forecasts.
3
Let's not forget Johnson's Brexit bus of lies.
9
The type of politics that is now defined as "Conservative", has become a joke world wide. This is the heritage of Reagan and Thatcher. What began as a serious attempt to reform government is now a tragic joke in the English speaking world. It is up to the younger generation to throw these bums out and re-establish an orderly management of our nations.
284
@Grain Boy
It is notable that before Reagan & Thatcher the incomes of most people rose at slightly more than the rate of inflation. Since then the incomes of the rich continued to rise well above the inflation rate while the incomes of the rest flat lined. The benefits of capitalism now only go to the rich it is those that politicians normally talk to.
19
There were 4 teenagers who were killed in my youth driving a car aroung a hairpin corner at a 100 mph. One girl I knew crossed a busy street into traffic thinking surely everone would stop. One car didn't and then she was no more. Ignoring gravity can end in the graveyard. This is where the unchecked hubris of human megalomania ultimately brings us.
26
The distinguishing feature of the media-created populist leader is a complete lack of consistency. How the leader perceives tomorrow's media image is all-consuming. Instantly changing position and being completely opposite of yesterday's policy position matters little. What sells tomorrow motivates the salesman.
Boris Johnson's overriding goal Thursday morning is how to sustain his premiership. The no-deal Brexit on October 31 was simply a slogan to gain power. He undoubtedly already has a polished line ready to repudiate that position. He will ask innocently, "Don't you understand, it was the power, not the policy, that was my goal."
If Johnson can put some lipstick on the Brexit pig, he will try to sell the pig to Parliament. If Parliament isn't buying and Johnson thinks he can sell the pig to the voters, then he'll call a general election.
If neither, look for muddle and evasion.
The one sure thing we can count on is Johnson not giving up power over principle. That is the one big consistency.
10
I don't disagree with your main points, but Churchill did far more than "a single act of bravery"!
4
i'd prefer that a "classical scholar" be someone who can speak knowledgeably or publish a study about, you know, "Violations of the Fourth Wall in the Dramaturgy of Plautus," or some such. johnson, like any good eton-and-oxford boy, can read himself some greek and knows the juicy parts in suetonius -- perhaps -- but that is not scholarship.
i also demur in the comparison between johnson and trump on the dimension of ignorance. you may as well contrast their foot size. the key is that both men are alike in vanity and in recklessness (of which the truth, sanity, decorum and empathy are all victims). once you combine vanity with recklessness, there is no other character trait that can redeem you.
i also feel the retribution here is not visited on johnson, no matter what happens -- rascals are never killed by falling bricks -- but on england (or britain, depending on outcomes). it's really the hubris and ignorance and recklessness of the english electorate that is on display in johnson's risible ascendance, and england's regret will echo the poet's loss of Lenore (and i quote):
England lost her Britannia ten decades before;
Johnson is the raven now croaking at the door.
80
You can’t blame the English electorate for Johnson. Instead blame 160,000 white men, all paid-up members of a shrivelling and Faragist-infiltrated party, all in their 60s and 70s. The rest of us had to sit on our hands and watch.
18
@drollere
Thank you very much for such an erudite and astute “comment.” A pleasure to read such well expressed and clear analysis. My compliments!
7
Thanks to Roger Cohen, as always, for his incisive and sharp commentary. As I observe the wretched political landscape of our two great countries, one thought comes to mind - "Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad." Or as Boris Johnson would put it ""Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat"
11
Little England. Lamenting over past Imperial Glory. Aging population and shrinking economy. Perhaps and Indian tycoon can incorporate "The East England Company" and purchase and colonize London and the lands of Mercia and Wessex.
Now that would be poetic justice.
21
@MoneyRules Aye, it would.
1
At least we won't be the only ones embarrassed on a daily basis anymore.
213
@Maureen And when they get together we can fly both of their balloons at the same time.
6
@Maureen
Gave your comment a recc. but, it’s cold comfort eh?
3
The author asks, "so why not call a second referendum?" Well, because the British people already had a vote; they voted to leave. It's amazing that the same people who constantly shriek over democracy's supposed demise are fine with taking votes over and over again until they get the result they like. If there's a second referendum and it's still yes on Brexit, it won't be long until progressives are calling for a third referendum.
9
@R.P.: piffle. We do-over votes here every year - each time there's an election. People change their minds all the time, especially when they are made aware of the consequences of their decisions. Technically, the Brexit referendum was non-binding; if Parliament wanted, they could ignore it entirely. It also was overly simplistic: remain or leave. No mechanism for HOW to accomplish this was included, and a majority of Brits do not support crashing out of the EU without a deal. A second referendum addressing these issues would actually give citizens a real choice.
35
@R.P.
Do you know who used to support a second referendum on the terms of leaving? Rees-Mogg, arch Brexiteer. But that was when he was campaigning to have a referendum in the first place. Some people seem to have short memories, even for the things they once espoused.
8
@R.P. If lies were told during his trial a convicted killer can appeal at multiple levels until the verdict is overturned and justice is achieved.
Elections allow a citizenry to change their minds over and over again.
Why then the sacred referendum which cannot be reversed?
Did the citizenry, like a jury, know all the pertinent facts?
Are the stakes not high enough?
I think you know the answer to that one!
10
A swift and decisive nemesis for Boris Johnson: they probably said much the same thing about Nero and Caligula. Unfortunately, history shows us that egotistical narcissists who are bent on a destructive course, usually get pretty far before they are finally stopped.
I hope British voters take to the streets right now to demand a new election. Situations like this don’t get better, they get worse, unless they’re fixed ASAP.
12
Moral of the story:
Beware of the Ronald Reagan tone of voice.
10
Come on Boris, do the right thing and keep the country in the EU. You'd make a great Churchill.
Without a parliamentary majority, he will be gone within six months. Britain needs to rid itself of populist con artists such as Johnson, Farage and Corbyn.
13
Yes after all this time, the Brits realize what Brexit really means and it's not an easy panacea. The Brexiteers probably had help from Russia and presented a slimy case that should not have been believed. Just what exactly will Britain actually accomplish with its new "freedom"? With reality now becoming obvious, the Trump like slogans about "their own island", freedom from regulation, etc etc look like a bunch of bunk.
43
"...a man without a conviction for a country without a direction, a man of self-destructive tendencies for a country in the vise of a crippling decision(s)"?
The world's democracies that are facing crippling decisions seem to be electing into positions of power this same man.
Tragic coincidences or capricious God?
8
I enjoyed this piece until I read "the crazed little-England monomaniacs who have now delivered him to 10 Downing Street."
"little-England monomaniacs" are the high brow equivalent of deplorables.
Brexit was an informed decision. The UK government sent every single household a 18 page pamphlet titled "Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the
European Union is the best decision for the UK" that outlined the consequences and recommended not to leave
Read it here
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/515068/why-the-government-believes-that-voting-to-remain-in-the-european-union-is-the-best-decision-for-the-uk.pdf
The UK voters read it and the majority voted for Brexit. But the cosmopolitan elite of London, who includes Cohen, can not help to disparage this democratic decision
13
What an utterly disingenuous comment. To say the least, It’s highly unlikely that everyone who voted actually read that pamphlet and carefully considered the arguments before making their decision.
23
@K. Anderson
What an utterly presumptuous statement.
It is highly likely that, after such a spirited and extraordinary campaign by both sides, the voters were very well informed.
And it's just as likely that the percentage of uninformed voters was just as high on the "remain" side as on the Brexit side.
4
@Bruce
I very much doubt they read it. It seems that even most of the cabinet ministers have not done their "what is the EU?" Google search.
That's what nationalistic exceptionalism and class exceptionalism bring: staggering ignorance, incuriosity, complacency, laziness, arrogance. The only good thing Brexit will bring will be dissolved delusions of grandeur.
In the worst case this self-inflicted Versailles treaty could have devastating consequences.
17
Boris Johnson will deliver the no-deal Brexit the nihilists are champing for. Within our lifetimes, we'll see Britain in the news as frequently, and consequentially, as Sri Lanka, Uruguay and Uganda.
17
"Or will Johnson, at the last, listen to reason?"
I mean, seriously? Optimistic to the point of foolishness.
7
Holy Toledo! This reads like one of those "separated at birth" comparisons. Especially, the "knows what the right thing to do, but" part.
6
We so enjoy your writing, Mr. Cohen. Don't stop!
7
No one should dismiss the ramifications of Boris Johnson's ascension to Prime Minister. As Trump as his ally and Putin as the enabler for them both, we are witnessing the 21st century Axis Powers. Each man, individually, does have limits on his power. All three taken together, however, increase their power exponentially. This is particularly true, because as Mr. Cohen notes, Johnson is orders of magnitude more intelligent than Trump.
But with these two mentally unstable bookends on either side of the Atlantic, the entire free world should have pause for thought. I remember presidents back to Eisenhower. Four of my uncles fought in WWII. And I can see much of the world turning again to the fascism and depravity of Hitler and Mussolini. At this point, the difference is only a matter of degree, and not kind.
I predict both the U.S. and Britain will see a continued rise of white nationalism, with escalating targeting of ethnic and religious minorities. We already have Hispanic infants and children forced into internment camps, on our soil.
That other nations select leaders like Trump only strengthens his hand. As both the U.S. and Britain become increasingly isolated from civilized nations, the more dangerous they become. White majorities in both nations will suffer under the leadership of these fascists.
But they won't blame their leaders -- they will find scapegoats. You know, brown-skinned people. People who aren't Christian. We've seen this movie before. Get ready.
249
@Charles Dodgson I'm in about 100 percent agreement with you...and the Dominionists are waiting in the wings.
20
@Charles Dodgson
"I predict both the U.S. and Britain will see a continued rise of white nationalism, with escalating targeting of ethnic and religious minorities. We already have Hispanic infants and children forced into internment camps, on our soil."
I see your overall point, but articulating "hysterical left" perspectives doesn't help anything. No one is forcing any legal immigrants or citizens into internment camps.
2
@another american abroad,
Just today ICE released a young Hispanic man who provided proof of his U.S. citizenship at the time of his wrongful arrest. He had been held for several weeks without charges.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/07/23/us/ap-us-immigration-detained-us-citizen.html
and,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49091524
Think my comments are still "hysterical?" Those of us who are brown-skinned Americans know exactly what we are seeing.
55
"If wishes were fishes, we'd all have some fried."
That Great Britain has been reduced to hoping, and that's all they have, that a man who has never accomplished anything of note will save them from their own stupidity is almost as depressing as Americans thinking Trump will make us great again. The two of them working together is nauseating.
Making the United Kingston just as great! Think I'll go back to bed...
117
Can't help but think that Boris Johnson is the dog who caught the car. What now, Bojo, what now? He has no idea whatsoever.
101
"The gods, when they are at their most cruel, also laugh."
I don't know that they do. Putin, on the other hand...
11
[Palm to forehead] Now we have a matched set.
7
"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
***
Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892
95
Why are so many countries racing towards disaster? It’s that last bender that makes end so unpalatable.
6
Unless saved by a vote of no-confidence, the UK is sliding toward self-destruction. It's the same immutable principle in action: countries get the leaders they deserve...
39
@AH, not with majorities, actually. Tyranny of whatever stripe gathers power over multitudes; it's the usual thing in history, from the first gang that killed people and took what was theirs to the robber barons of our own day and their hired help.
6
Calling for a 2nd referendum is absurd. It’s as if you know the outcome - like Clinton knew the outcome of the election when she brushed aside Sanders for her VP which untethered and disenfranchised tens of thousand of progressive voters.
Referendums do not house sovereignty - parliament does. So, call for elections and say that a vote for labor or Tory is a vote for exit and dismembering Scotland from the union, and a vote for Liberals is a vote for remaining: remaining in the EU and remaining the UK.
6
I predict a Disunited Kingdom. Scotland for sure. Now that the Republic of Ireland is no longer a Roman Cathollic nation, Northern Ireland might see the virtues of prosperity over abject poverty. Wales also wants to remain part of Europe. Little England can revert to its vicious, fractious, inconsequential nature prior to the Tudors. Bring on the second War of the Roses.
86
@Michael Epton
I'm really looking forward to independent Scotland shedding its shackles and joining the EU. It would be a quick formality, the country being 100% EU-compatible already.
And think of all the English businesses backing up and moving North of the Border.
21
@Michael Epton. I think you’re wrong about Wales. I remember being surprised that they mostly voted for Brexit. Scotland will leave for sure. Ireland will be a problem. The unionists are loud, expect tension there.
8
@Michael Epton. I think you’re wrong about Wales. I remember being surprised that they mostly voted for Brexit. Scotland will leave for sure. Ireland will be a problem. The unionists are loud, expect tension there.
1
Let's look at predecessors: Needy people-pleasers (May, Brown). When the going got tough, Cameron got going. Tony Blair, Superstar. Grey non-Eminence (Major).
Things have been going downhill for a while. One thing Johnson has in common with Churchill - not giving a damn.
5
@Daedalus
Things Boris does not have in common with Churchill:
1. integrity
2. conviction
3. understanding of the international environment
4. moral compass
5. any sense of what it would take to unite the British people
Other than that, you're right they are the same
50
@Daedalus
Johnson is a lightweight charlatan, a Benny Hill, not a Churchill. He does give damn - about himself, not his country.
11
Would not be hard to imagine Johnson throwing his and Britain's destiny to Trump, the way the republican party is now doing. He is made of the same cloth. He will try to convince the country that the so called special relationship between the U.S. and the UK is the solution to the Brexit quagmire.
He will have to muster all his charm, wit and bombast to convince the razor thin conservative majority that Trump's America will rescue and save Britain. This tactic could very well be his swift downfall. I don't see him taking the nobler path.
28
@Chrisopher Kime. Would Johnson be that utterly foolish? Depend upon the word of Donald Trump to back England and stay committed in the worst of times? Has not DJT shown numerous times that he will break his word in a heartbeat? FDR he ain't.
3
In the referendum 51 percent of British voters decided on leaving the EU. Clearly that is too close a call for such a weighty decision. The threshold should have been more like 60 percent. With the economic turmoil that is predicted to come with Brexit it is likely in a second referendum that the voters would decide to stay in the EU.
38
@Mark Ryan And what if the second referendum is also "yes" on Brexit, even narrowly? Are you going to have a third vote? Maybe the British people took it seriously when they were told they could vote on Brexit the first time.
5
@Mark Ryan To be precise, it was 51.89% for Leave to 48.11% for Remain, a margin of 3.78%, or 1.27M votes.
If it had been the reverse, would Remainers have called for a second vote? No.
Project Fear has already been discredited again and again. And the larger political decision to return sovereignty to the national level is far more important than short-term economic considerations, which won't be nearly as bad as what some have predicted.
6
@Mark Ryan. And the first time around, the Brits were not given the facts about what Brexit meant. They were force fed-how should I put it?-the "alternate facts".
6
“A vote for Labor is an existential choice that threatens the nation” - Prime Minister Cameron in his last general election campaign.
5
Yes, a country without a direction, and maybe you could say that both for the UK and the US. But isn't that why we have democracies and why they ultimately are made to work, because they create their own path, however tedious. Well, let's see that with the tyrannies of the world. On second thought, maybe I don't want to see it in those tyrannies, the Russias and Chinas of the world.
A Brit friend of mine once said: It gets worse, before it gets better. Let's hope for the best.
13
@remarkblz
It seems that democracies only work for a limited time.
@dressmaker If you look as democracies as a country's way to find itself, I don't agree with your statement.
Actually the EU has insisted that there be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the republic of Ireland if there is a no deal Brexit. The UK is not directionless, it is going in two many different directions at the same time, that's the problem. Regarding Scotland, if Boris believes in allowing states to leave a union then it makes sense allow Scotland to leave - the fact that this gives the conservative party an electoral advantage in the remaining parts of the UK will surely not have escaped his notice.
11
Ironic that this mess revolves back to the Irish question, which the pro brexit folks chose to ignore. Will the loss of Northern Ireland be the alimony paid in this messy divorce from Europe. A united Ireland, maybe a silver lining.
82
Mr. Cohen - the British public spoke - 52% to 48%, with a healthy 72% voting rate. It voted to leave the EU - point blank. Mr. Johnson's task is to fulfill the wishes of the voters and get Britain out.
As for the prophecy of economic doom that we hear about from many quarters - keep in mind that Switzerland, Norway and Iceland are all doing quite well thank you outside of this organization. Britain will too, count on it.
8
@Tom Right, so leave already! Oh, and in case you forgot, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, while not being members of the EU, all have very close trade agreements with it as well as norms regulating the movement of people -- the kind of agreements Brexiteers reject because, you know, it's like being a "colony" (Johnson's term for the relationship of the UK to the EU: perhaps he ought to ask former British colonies about it, they might teaching him a thing or two about what its' like to be under colonial yoke). The British people were fed perfectly unworkable (not to say downright false) notions of what a post-EU would look like, a new vote would allow them to express a more informed opinion. I know, I know, voting on the basis of facts and not jingoistic (and enthusiastically told) lies is no fun, but perhaps it would help the UK pull itself out of this self-made mess. Short of that, let's hope they haven't started spending those 350 million pounds a week they've been promised after Brexit...
46
@Tom
For a question that fundamentally changes the political nature of a country, the fifty percent plus one rule is folly. The process to amend the U.S. constitution is an example of the higher standard that needs to used.
9
@Tom. All three of the countries you name are part of the Schengen Area, allowing passport-free entry to and from the EU. So they are not quite so far "outside" the EU as you imagine. Even as a group they are also much smaller than the U.K., totaling approximately 14 million people altogether. Iceland's population is less than 400,000! The U.K.'s very large economy is intricately intertwined with that of the EU. Extricating it will be very disruptive. As has been noted in other places, a larger share of the U.K.'s exports go to other EU countries than the obverse by a factor of approximately 5 to 1. A loss of free access to the EU market will immediately impact the U.K. more substantially than it will the EU.
19
That 'single act of bravery' for an opportunist with 'no conviction' (and is no fool) could well be the following: upon reflection when confronted with all the dire best case economic numbers, the impossibility of a hard border between the two Irelands, and the real prospect of Scottish independence, Johnson launches an about face and revokes article 50. The UK remains in the EU for the time being, Johnson launches into an election with a real chance of winning - and then in 2021, approaches the EU anew for better terms on immigration. Johnson is unpredictable, and he will not relish having the UK's shortest term as Prime Minister.
13
@Rick Morris
Is he that politically smart, and that disciplined and focused, with consistent action, that this result would be achieved?
Methinks Boris waffles, flim-flams, is lazy and loves drama and grandstanding too much.
1
@Rick Morris
I'm not sure he has the disipline to pull in off, but he might try and pull a Trump NAFTA (renegotiate basically the same deal you already had and declare victory). I'm not sure the EU is ready to give him that kind of win.
1
Any chance that the Tories would do as US Congressional Republicans do -- reject a proposal based on the proposer and accept the same proposal when it comes from another?
Are they willing to take any deal as long as it comes from anyone but May?
37
@SF
Probably not. As the votes on various Brexit plans have shown, there is no majority in Parliament for any plan.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47781009
Some of these proposals had substantial numbers of abstentions. There are 650 MPs, but most of these items were short by about a hundred votes.
Parliament did cast a vote this week that would block the PMs ability to suspend Parliament and thus sneak a no-deal Brexit through without a vote, an option Boris Johnson has so far refused to rule out.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49030225
5
Yes, thank you: enlightening, entertaining and sobering.
The politics of today are another example of evolution. And many of us don't like the direction of the evolution.
21
To be brave, Boris would have to act selflessly. His lifetime of irresponsibility and shallowness show that he will not do what's right for the greater good.
Johnson's pride will not go, even as it causes his nation's fall.
151
@NM
And who does that sound like?
6
@NM I can think of another person who fits your analysis - (his) "pride will not go, even as it causes his nation's fall." As a matter of fact, your whole comment can be part of his twin's bio who sadly for us wreaks havoc here across the pond....
5
@NM
Unless "striking a new deal" feeds his narcissism more than a Brexit disaster.
1
So excellent: "a man without a conviction for a country without a direction, a man of self-destructive tendencies for a country in the vise of a crippling decision. The gods, when they are most cruel, also laugh."
It's ironic that the great western democracies have become 'victims of process', pushed by a 'disruptor' crowd, who are usually always about not following process.
Democracies need a process re-vamp akin to what NASA accomplished after the Challenger disaster, when it was determined that any of a number of particularly educated informed launch experts could stop an errant process.
The Electoral College in the U.S. was designed for just that purpose by our wise Founders 235+ years ago, then short-circuited by the political parties.
A pity the British have not found an off-ramp from disaster; if they yet discover such an exit, perhaps they will shine the way forward for the U.S.
124
We need a second referendum. Just because the "people have spoken" the first time and "exercised their democratic rights" doesn't mean we can't all take a fresh look at the likelihood of successfully delivering Brexit. After all, isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?
93
@Sheriff of Nottingham - What if the 'leavers' win again? As you wrote yourself, "After all, isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?"
The people have voted. It's time to leave.
6
@Tom But it's not doing the same thing, it's doing the something different, with knowledge of what the actual consequences will be, rather than simply relying on pie-in-the-sky promises that nasty reality has shattered to bits over the last three years. I mean, if it was that easy, why are they still in the EU? I don't think any of the partners will be shedding a tear, considering how more often than not the UK has impeded European integration.
10
@Tom
The people voted once to join to EU. So, by your logic, the Brexit referendum should never have been held.
13