How can the UK look at what America has been dealt and turn around and ask for the same thing?! I always believed they were so much more refined, educated and thoughtful than us. My mistake.
1
I fail to understand any of this merriment.
First the United States of America and now the United Kingdom.
It ain’t funny people.
If anything it’s confirmation for the beginning of the end.
34
What astonishes me is that Johnson and his backers seem to think they are headed into negotiations on Brexit with the EU negotiating from a position of renewed strength. Seriously?
This time next year Johnson will be gone in the wake of a no deal Brexit, Scotland leaving Great Britain, England's economy crashing and the resumption of "The Troubles".
And, yes, in retrospect they are going to miss Theresa May. Doubt she'll miss them.
38
@Lou Good Sorry to say it Lou but you've completely missed the feeling here. Don't believe what you hear on the BBC, which is heavily left-wing and pro-EU, full of champagne socialist journalists. And save for the Daily Telegraph there's little in the news positive and believing in UK. Far too much negativity used to sell project fear and sell newspapers over here.
1
“No one in the last few centuries has succeeded in betting against the pluck, nerve and ambition of this country. They will not succeed today.” I believe the Unites States bet against the UK a couple of centuries ago!
60
@Thomas Tillman The people who started the United States were British, who also started a rival British Empire that colonized westward from the borders of July 4, 1776. They used English liberty - what else - as the cornerstone of this country's constitution and rights codified within it. So when you speak of the UK and US 'a couple of centuries ago' culturally they are the same people!
5
I am sorry the Queen had to go through this after all her years of service with dignity.
If I were the Queen I would retire and let Prince Charles deal with Boris.
119
The Queen probably knows her son better than anybody else. Surely she cares for her country too much to retire now.
6
@Karin Byars
Charles will never be king. The next monarch will be William.
@Karin Byars The tradition is for the Monarch to die in office and the Queen will do so, too. The only other route is to abdicate in favour of Prince Charles, who as Prince of Wales is next in line. It has often been said that the Queen Mother was implacably opposed to abdication after Edward VIII did so and plunged her husband, who became George VI, into the role of king for which he had not been prepared from boyhood, as his older brother had, and suffered greatly because of it. It seems most likely the Queen will feel much as her mother, knowing the effect on her father who died well before his time.
I think it's funny Queen Elizabeth is packing a purse in the photo. What's in it? A club (to keep Boris in line)? Tissues? Some coins for the valet?
So Britain is marching to the cliff led by beaming, blathering BoJo. And unlike Donald Trump he’s actually capable of reading statistics. He just doesn’t care about them: like 44 per cent of all British exports go to the EU. Just under 50 per cent of Scotland’s exports go to the EU. And the vast majority of Welsh exports. A “no deal” Brexit means a No Trade Deal Brexit. In October BoJo takes the country to the cliff, chuckling. “well, you wanted a hard Brexit!” as waves off in his personal helicopter. Too bad about the rest of the country: no choppers, no parachutes. No soft landings.
2
The Brits can no longer hold their noses and point the wagging figure at the ignorance of Americans in electing Donald Trump. Welcome to sinking to our level. Congrats or something.
4
I'm horrified.
But on the bright side, the Queen has a Dyson Airblade fan in Buckingham Palace!
4
Why is the Queen carrying her handbag in her home? Is she getting ready to go out shopping?
1
@Hal Samis- maybe it contains a can of mace in case Boris gets carried away with his own importance. Just sayin'.
2
Please don't believe all you read in the UK left wing press, Boris is very popular amongst the chattering classes here. Brexit has been a nightmare but only because of the MP's who are against it and are totally egocentric. We voted to leave and this is a democracy after all.
The queen was reported to have said to Boris "why would anyone want this job?" !
2
when UK gets a trade deal with the USA after Brexit one thing will not change ;it will still be illegal to import haggis from the UK to USA.
4
The Northsea Islanders
now have a Turkish PM. Grandfather Osman Ali came with his family from Constantinople to Britain and took the fake name of Johnson. The British Kings and Queens have been German since the early 17hundreds. So much to ''Foreigners" which is still a dirty word to many Brits.
1
Day one and Boris breaches protocol reporting on the Queen’s comment. As ever,the Queen hit the nail on the head, reportedly saying ‘I don’t know why anyone would want the job.’ (For those of you who remember in 2008 during the financial crisis, she asked ‘why did no one see this coming?’
1
A number of people here seem to think that Boris Johnson is "a clown" and comparable to the racist POTUS Trump, do not make the mistake of thinking like that. He is a political animal through and through who deliberately cultivates a particular persona that some may find amusing or even appealing, but unlike Trump, he knows how politics work and he has assembled a team that is the best we have had for a very long time in terms of political expertise. Already he has ditched the old guard whose hearts were not really in doing what the people of the UK asked them to do. It may be a stormy ride but Boris Johnson will get things done and achieve the goals he has been set and set himself.
6
Lost Empires, Roman or British for that matter, cannot be recovered. Despite what Mussolinis, old and new, claim.
"It is not, nor it cannot come to good."
I can only hope that the hard right government installed by Johnson is ousted in fairly short order. We haven't quite reached Trump levels of idiocy but we're only one rung lower on the ladder; nothing to be proud of.
Johnson's government has the support of only a minority of UK voters and yet here he is, with his cabal of tax-haven goons attempting to fulfill a hard right project of dismantling our NHS, our labour protections, our social welfare state. Brexit is just the project name; it was never the ultimate goal.
A no deal Brexit is almost certainly going to render Johnson the last Prime Minister of the UK and the first Prime Minister of England. Yesterday he told Scotland and Nothern Ireland that we would 'lose our shirts' for opposing his free-port, tax-haven vision of the UK for the 1%, and you'd have to be blind not to see what the outcome will be if he pushes this through.
Normally opposed by a strong opposition, Johnson faces a divided and incompetent Labour party so a win in an election, like Trump, is certainly possible even though the vast majority of people won't vote for him. It's how the numbers work in our antiquated and unfit-for-purpose first past the post electoral system.
I don't want Scotland to break from the UK but, faced with the prospect of being forced to leave the EU by another dire, right wing Westminster huddle of public school boys, I'll vote for independence and I believe the EU will be sympathetic to a request for fast-track membership.
5
@Zoe
The public schoolboys who normally isolate themselves from the common man as much as possible, in private schools and hospitals and gated developments, seem uncharacteristically respectful to him over Brexit and brandish their trump card - the ineluctable democratic mandate of the referendum – but consistently refuse to address the questions of dishonesty and foreign manipulation of our democracy that fatally undermine the referendum vote.
Boris seems to desire power and is willing to humour the Brexiters to get it but the real motives for Tory suppot for thr referendum were avowed by Nigel Lawson who told the FT after the referendum: ‘Brexit gives us the chance to finish the Thatcher revolution’.
This and the continuation of tax havens and non-dom tax status for the very rich - austerity for the average person while enriching the rich, will be Tory politics after Brexit and explain their respect for democracy in the referendum - ‘Singapore-on-Sea for the rich; degradation for the rest’ in the words of Lord Adonis.
3
In UK a slight spinning sensation has begun, which will become inescapable as it steadily increases. This is the Coriolis effect, as things go down drains.
1
The reign of "Boris the Brief": He wanted to be "king of the world," yet chooses instead to shepherd an island nation of sheep over the cliff into the Irish Sea. May he be known as "King Boris the Brief" and may the British people recover their world-renowned 'common sense" and stay part of the EU, just as historically they have always been part of world-wide trading unions, like the Commonwealth, sensing early on that going it alone would lead nowhere. British pride and hubris at being one of a union of equal member states should not lead them to their own destruction.
1
Queen Elizabeth's first prime minister was Winston Churchill. One has to wonder what she was thinking as she asked Boris Johnson to become prime minister and to form a government in her name. How the realm has fallen.
157
@Maryland Chris Anyone would be better than Winston Churchill - the butcher of Bengal, responsible for the deaths of 3 million of my countrymen.
4
@Maryland Chris
Churchill lost the empire and handed all British patents to the US forever making the UK playing second fiddle to the US. He is basically the Gorbachev of British Empire.
2
Just had a look at the new Prime Minister's Cabinet & conclude that he really means business. He has appointed perhaps the most capable political team that we have had for a long, long while, majority of whom are ardent Leavers and he cleared out a lot of the old guard who quite frankly were not up to the job. Brexit will happen under the leadership of Mr. Johnson and it behoves everyone to not make the mistake of underestimating him; as I have said elsewhere he is a formidable political operative, groomed all his life in the political world.
4
I'm now convinced Brexit is an absolute fiasco. If Brexit were so great, why would the UK keep delaying it and why would two Prime Ministers have to resign.
Maybe this is cosmic karma. When the Thatcher government negotiated Hong Kong's handover to the PRC, the people of Hong Kong had no say in the matter. Now the Cameron government called an unnecessary referendum on Brexit, and the majority chose a self-inflected tragedy. So be it.
11
The people of the UK voted for Brexit and they must get Brexit. If it means longer customs lines, tarrifs, and a recession, or even the dissolution of the UK, then so be it. The liberals do this here too. They scream about the poor red States voting against their interests. Maybe the voters there have other considerations, maybe not. It's irrelevant. There voters are adults and they have spoken. Elections and referenda have consequences. They have to deal with the aftermath, good and bad. Those are the rules of a democracy. Johnson will deliver the will of the people.
5
@MJG I always despise those in a democracy who permit themselves to talk of "the people", "the will of the people" and so on. That is almost never the case: it is a question of percentages. "The people" do not exist, and it is intellectually shallow to believe that they do. Politics are confusing, and simplistic statements muddy the issues rather than clarify them. The debates are far more complex.
9
But what if Brexit is no longer the “will of the people”. The polls would suggest it isn’t.
Moreover, should a small majority in an advisory referendum be sufficient to embark on a project of such import and potential devastation?
The core problem here is that uttering words like “will of the people” is pretty meaningless in a scenario of such complexity. Apparently many Brexiteers still believe many of the lies they were told during the referendum. If it is the will of the people to jump off a cliff are we all democratically obliged to do so?
In my view the answer is no. They should postpone Brexit and put a detailed analysis before the people in a subsequent referendum. The fundamental core of democracy is the provision of proper information to citizens so they can make an informed decision. That didn’t happen.
3
@ETL Looking at this I am ashamed I was so acerbic. I still maintain the point I made, but the tone was affected by my misery at listening to Johnson perorating.
3
Money does not care about politics.
If Boris is not up to snuff,
then he will be retired rather quickly.
Can the UK pull itself together
or will it kowtow to the E.U.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth II may set the record
for Prime Minsters in a few months.
3
I always smile when I see the queen with her purse over her arm...Bless her heart, she even carries it when meeting people in her own home.
16
@Martha Goff
Yes, I've often wondered just what is in the purse that she obviously must carry with her hen she is in her residence fulfilling her duties formally greeting 'diplomats' as Johnson. Can it possibly be her 'red phone'? that would not match her clothing??
@Martha Goff
And she backs British industry. Note the Dyson heater
Winston Churchill must be rolling over in his grave.
As must be FDR on our side of the Atlantic.
13
I read the queen's lips while she was greeting Boris. I hadn't realized that she speaks Yiddish. I saw lips mutter, "Oy, vey!"
14
"Mr. Johnson is the queen’s 14th prime minister, tying the record set by King George III between 1760 and 1820."
Yeah, and we know how well Georgie III did in the 1770s and 1780s.
Looks like having that many PMs comes with watching the "empire" shrink.
6
@Joe From Boston Interesting, but also technically incorrect! Queen Elizabeth II has in fact had 45 Prime Ministers serving during her reign, 14 UK PMs and 31 Commonwealth PMs. Plus, of course, 1 other that she did not recognise—Ian Smith was Prime Minister of Rhodesia following a unilateral declaration of independence on 11 November 1965 but the title was not accepted by her.
1
One thing I am sure of is that Brexit would be good for Boris Johnson.
Boris is right that a Brexit would not be dome and gloom for the UK. However I think the average person will have slightly less purchasing power than before Brexit.
3
Good, we've had enough of the UK leeching off of us.
7
@mons the proof will be in the pudding, as they say. The Brexiteers exact same way about Brussels and the European Superstate.
2
@mons Now you can look forward to propping up Italy.
7
@mons
The greatest leeching that the UK did from the US was WWII that Churchill convinced FDR to fund with our blood and might.
Poor QE II!
Having shaken the hand of the likes of Churchill, Loyd George, Clement Atlee, Harold Macmillan, and Harold Wilson in her long lifetime (not all while ruling as Queen), imagine having to keep a straight face while greeting BoJo, the Clown PM!
Or even shaking the hand at all of such a slimy, two-faced liar, at all, and not instinctively wanting to wash Her Royal Hand (HRH) to avoid contagion of mendacity!
11
@NYer
Well, she shook Individual-1's hand with a smile. She is grace and dignity personified.
8
@NYer
Lloyd George ?
Perhaps after he retired as PM.
2
Brexit sends United Kingdom back to square one, it's not as big as a disaster as if they lost the Second World War but it's going to be close enough.
11
The expression on Queen Elizabeth's face says it all.
I don't think she could have a more skeptical look if they had brought in one of her horses and said that it was going to be the new PM.
10
Looks like he--combed!?!?!?!?!?--his hairs.
4
What's funny is the good chance liberal commentators, myself included, are reading the wrong tea leaves on this. Just as we did on Trump.
3
How depressing for the Queen to think she started with Churchill in the '50s and might expire with this clown in charge.
23
Say goodby to the U.K. as Scotland and Northern Ireland will each vote to stay in the EU and stage their own Britexit.
14
Poor Boris. The promises he made to get the job will not allow him to keep the job for long. The EU will not delay the Oct. date for exit to start negotiations over again. They have made this point crystal clear. If he goes with a no deal exit the howls from all over the UK will bring a no confidence vote and an early election. If he tries to renege on his promise Farrage and the ultra Brexiteers will gut him and make the Conservative Party the third largest party in the next election. That is a long fall from the top of the greasy pole.
10
"...He seemed unbothered by the fact that he is entering office with a paper-thin working parliamentary majority at a time of deep divisions within the country and in his own Conservative Party..."
Let's not forget that Johnson did more than any other single individual to create the divisions in the country that he is now 'unbothered' about.
28
Both Trump and Johnson hosted at Buckingham Palace by HRH QEII within 6 weeks... “aestas horribilis!”
16
Anglo societies are tired of our star leaders so they are now relaying lowest common denominaters to see if they work.
8
“The people who bet against Brexit are going to lose their shirts.”
Yeah, I'll remember that once July 4th comes around again.
Johnson reminds me of Homer Simpson in the "Trash of the Titans" episode - an incompetent loud mouth being elected into office on impossible promises.
He has a track record of a con artist, being ill prepared most of the time - and even celebrating that as part of his act.
He has no public mandate.
He has no majority in parliament for a no deal.
He has no majority in parliament for a deal the EU would agree to.
There is no realistic reason to believe the EU will now suddenly come around and agree to a new deal.
Even a so called "no deal" is not really an all strings severed Brexit as Britain will be forced to comply with EU regulations in a one-sided manner one way or the other if it wants to sell goods and services in the EU - after Brexit the difference will be that the EU creates these regulations without Britain at the table with its vote or even veto power now gone after Brexit. It's a lose-lose situation for Britain.
I have lost all sense of understanding for Britain's politics. I am going to treat this like a Simpson's episode and just laugh about it. Good riddance?
13
look homeward, angel. it might be a slight relief for us. maybe distraction is a better term.
5
Is the entire world going crazy?
15
@Enigma Variation
Yup it's already there.
1
Very good news --
100% the most right man at the most right time.
1
I read these comments knowing full well the usual suspects herein would welcome the anti-Semitic Marxist Jeremy Corbin as PM with open arms.
4
@EGD
No word of Jeremy Corbyn being an anti-semite until he became leader of the Labour Party.
7
Poor Queen Elizabeth.
11
I know that some will probably cheer the decline and fragmentation of "Great Britain," but I for one think we'll miss her when she's gone.
The UK, for all its faults, has been a steady and reliable ally and partner not just to Europe, not just to NATO, not just to the United States, but to much the world. Yes, they've had their stumbles along the way, and yes, the Johnson administration is likely to be the final death knell for any pretensions of British diplomacy, but that's still no reason to look at Johnson's premiership with as much malicious glee as we've been seeing. Indeed, as much as the French, the Germans, the Russians, the Belgians, the Irish, the Spanish, the Italians, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Turks, the Iranians, the Iraqis, the Palestinians, the Chinese, the Indians, the Pakistanis, the Bangladeshis, and others around the world might be eagerly awaiting the United Kingdom's forthcoming comeuppance with bated breath, it's still worth remembering that the UK has done also done a lot of good in the world as well as harm.
...just don't ask me to come up with any examples in the near future.
15
@Anonymous Bosch
Some examples are: Newtonian physics, that laid the ground for the great advances in 19th century science. The Industrial Revolution, which has changed everyone’s lives. The English language, the lingua fra’nca of the world. Parliamentary democracy. The mother country of the United States of America and her genius.
13
@Anonymous Bosch
hope there is no war in iran. Britain will not be standing side by side with us. also, if he does a no deal brexit they will also owe the EU 50 billion dollars which boris said he will not pay it. . cant wait to see that hard border being put up between Ireland and northern Ireland. here come the troubles.
and if they owe the 50 billion and don't pay it who will they trade with.
8
@jennifer t. Schultz
£39b is an estimate based on the formula agreed in the withdrawal agreement.
Part of this sum was to ensure a good trade agreement. No trade agreement and the figure is reduced. The estimated debt has been quoted as £20b to be repaid in instalments over many years.
4
Boris Johnson is already sounding like Trump with “no worries” and “alternate arrangements” talk.
That didn’t take long.
15
I think the teleprompter had a glitch, so he forgot to mention that he was also going to cure cancer, and force the Chinese to take back their global warming hoax.
Just one question: Does he plan deputize Jared Kushner to head up all of those efforts (because we all know how successful Jared is, and how much spare time he has on his hands)?
13
This should just about complete the disaster: Brexit, Trump, snd the final nail in the coffin, Boris.
Thanks, Cambridge Analytica.
18
With luck, and new elections, the Queen will break the prime minister record.
8
Johnson and Trump running the free world.
"Are you not entertained?!!!!" - Gladiator
12
The look on the Queens face in the photo of her lightly shaking his hand speaks volumes. What must she be thinking....
6
All right I will say it - why not - in an era when MeToo may have gone overboard, will now a man finish what a woman couldn’t?
(Re: Brexit brings back the old gender balance)
3
Who names their son Boris anyway.
He reminds me of the unruly child who has to be sent to British boarding schools for wayward boys.
8
@New World
I think you are confusing Boris with Donnie, who as a teen was sent by his father to the New York Military Academy, a sleep-away school for rich truants.
Fred Trump should have demanded a refund, because the lessons obviously did not work.
17
@New World His given name at birth was Alexander, not Boris.
8
@Joe From Boston - or they worked too well?
2
While Mr Starmer may be correct that BoJo is going to learn some hard truths very soon, it also appears abundantly clear that Corbyn’s Labour doesn’t have a “Brexit Policy” either.
7
So animals will have a fair break, according to Boris first speech. Now my Aussie shepherd wants to go back.
3
Meeting with the Queen and this boor couldn't get a haircut.
Still looks like a spoiled child on a bad hair day, after dressing down the servants half his age.
9
Time for the Queen to lower a lifeboat and sail off to the Commonwealth: Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. I’d choose Canada. Excellent poutine, and great fishing. Let Boris and Trump do their vaudeville act, the Fake News Follies, while the average citizen waits, with bated breath, to see what happens on Oct. 31st. If it’s a no deal Brexit, the champagne will be flowing at #10 and the Oval Office, while the average British citizen stockpiles medicines and other critical supplies. Putin is thrilled with progress and has big plans for 2020, even hoping for another summons from Trump to find something.
7
@Zip
Congratulations! you've read my thoughts, and my prayers are with the world - God bless us all said Tiny Tim, the waif from Dickens.
2
Time and time again, history proves that every sort of buffoon can meet the Queen.
10
Brits may enter the USA for 90 days very easily.
Brits can enter Canada (a Commonweal) on a visa and stay for years and then just sashay over the northern border.
ICE needs to start tracking "bangers & mash" and clotted cream.
The British are coming!
The British are coming!
12
Twiddle-dee and Twiddle-dum are back. Trouble is telling one from the other, esp the hair. What record is Boris referring to that he's going to change? Change is not necessarily a step forward in human progress for the better. U.S. to UK - you are in for a bad ride.
6
Can't she trust some loyal subject to carry that silly looking handbag for her?
2
@archer717
It would be good for taking a swing and that knuckle dragging oaf she had to meet.
4
@archer717 Exactly. God save the Queen (and I mean it, man); but I wonder why she feels it necessary to carry a purse while receiving guests in her own home? Anyone?
2
@Jim Oberstadt
She needs easy access to her handkerchief.
1
What a disaster. A man who struggles continually with the truth is now in charge. Sounds dreadfully familiar. God have mercy.
16
well i hate Boris but I actually see he looks humbled and respectful to the queen in this photo
1
Where are the roots of democracy? Were they in Greece? Or many, many centuries later somewhere in Europe? Have they been in more modern times in the UK? Boris Johnson will probably be as useful as Donald Trump for the Western world to rediscover, sooner or later, what democracy is about!
4
@berale8
Interesting. Greek and early American democracy had limited voters, typically male property owners. Anachronistically not PC, but were the majority of the perceived “value added” class. Something worth debating.
2
@berale8
Politics is the 'immemorial feud between rich and poor'. Sometimes one side is winning at other times the other.
Like Warren Buffet (I think) said about class warfare the rich - his class are winning at the moment.
Another world leader for Trump to be close friends with. Putin, Kim Jong-un, Mohammed Ibn Salman, and now Boris Johnson. England must be so proud.
13
@Ava
Yup.
Here’s to longing for the good ol’ days of Barack and the Mullahs, the Castros, Ortega, Chavez/Maduro, and Morsi.
2
My thoughts and prayers are with HRH at this difficult time
23
My lip-reading skills aren't what they once were, but I think I see the Queen saying..
"Oh, good Heavens. Am I being punk'd here? Is that Ashton Kutcher hiding behind the curtain?"
Oy, vey.
6
God save the Queen and everyone else from this mini-me Trump.
23
I ask this only because Ms. Lyall & Mr. Castle commented on the man's attire and grooming in the article: Why does the Queen, THE QUEEN, need to carry a huge pocketbook inside her own palace?
What on earth could she possibly need to have in arms reach inside her own home?
Really, can anyone tell me?
A woman needs to be pocket-booked inside her own home to meet a guest?
4
@WorkingMan: I think when she takes the handbag off of her arm and sets it down, that's a signal that the visitor's time is up...
5
@WorkingGuy
Maybe she didn't want to leave it unattended while Boris was there.
11
I know if someone were to say this of a man, I would pounce... He looks like a giant baby man. Is it the hair per se?
3
If Britain takes a hard Brexit, a kamikaze dive possibly, and if it turns out woefully, which seems likely, then that will be the end of patrician rule in Britain, I think.
5
I'm hoping that Boris is a fictional character made up by Monty Python. He sure seems like a joke.
12
I remember the serie crown
This picture is funny, because of Boris
3
Thank heavens that after 3 years of negativity and capitulation, finally we have Boris Johnson who believes in a global Britain that can live, work and play as it has done for 1000 years before anyone thought of the Common Market or the EU superstate confederacy it has become - again to be an independent nation in control of its laws, money and borders.
Would US want to be under control of the OAS? A mere subservient supplier of money with little influence? No, I thought not, you have more dignity. So have we in UK.
Even in UK it is not widely understood that Prime Minister Heath in 1971 said joining the Common Market would be something he would put to a democratic vote - and then went against his word and simply signed us up. No consultation, just taxation by the Common Market of our wealth with no democratic representation. EU Commission civil servants run the EU, its Parliament merely nodding laws through with no right to vote against, only to agree or abstain. Not democracy. Not!
The 1975 Referendum was coloured by the same disingenuous arguments then as in 2016. Unfortunately many of us felt then that regardless of the warnings of the real nature of what the Common Market was - not a trading empire as advertised, but a superstate in the making - we could not vote for one of the most eminent leavers, a racist who shamed himself before all society.
Wrongly we voted in millions to remain because we looked at who was telling the bad news instead of what they were saying.
10
You forget we in the US are a collection of former colonies, now States bound in a Union with what are usually collective goals (with a large interruption in the middle).
Nationalism won’t get the U.K. (or more likely, England) very far. It won’t in the US, either (as you’ve seen our stature diminish during Trump’s reign). The U.K. had rather unique and special privileges in the EU. Now you won’t.
But, like the teenage kid who declares themselves adults and fully independent, you’re about to find out how much more challenging it’ll be on your own.
11
@MikeP You no longer have a merchant marine to speak of and what’s left of the Royal Navy is mostly in port. Your frigates lose power at sea and nobody knows why.
Johnson will have to go begging for other countries’ navies to provide ships to help protect British vessels in the Gulf. In your centuries of greatness, you controlled the seas. now your tankers get pirated by speedboats.
That is not to say that you cannot be again what you were, or approach that anyway. but there will be a massive amount of work to be done and half of England is not on board. Nor is Scotland.
Plus, you have to ally with and payoff the DUP to get it done.
4
@historyRepeated
Well, you could have stayed a colony, but no, you had to have a little tea party and create your Electoral College. And how is that Electoral College working for you in Massachusetts? It seem to have worked for your President Trump quite well. He did not even need a majority of voters to win. Pleased to live in a Commonwealth country.
5
If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without an exit agreement, the wealthy class in the UK will avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes owed to the EU. Boris is simply a stooge for the wealthiest people in Great Britain.
8
@Smokey There is no European tax that any citizen of the European Union owes directly to the EU. The EU does not have a mandate for raising and collecting taxes from citizens.
So really, your claim makes NO SENSE.
4
The key word being "directly". The UK pays taxes to support the EU, which are quite substantial. Wealthy Brits dont like payi g taxes to support their own countries through taxes, which pay their share of the money they owe to the EU. Wealthy Brits have hidden billions in tax havens, which the EU going to expose. We all know that only working class Brits should pay taxes.
5
I know this is silly, but why on earth does the Queen carry a purse in her own house? Is there something in there with which to beat miscreants, perhaps?
8
Why hasn't anyone followed the money from Moscow to Brexit to Johnson?
13
@Carl Ian Schwartz--I think someone has. Her name is Carol Cadwalladr, a brilliant investigative reporter with the Guardian.
1
Always amuses me how most Americans hate strong foreign leaders but demand strong president for the US. Everyone knows the reason is a weak foreign leader is more receptive to US demands and incapable of resisting US economic and military interests.
Knowing this, why are Americans surprised and outraged every time a foreign population chose a leader that represents their own interest? Obviously they wouldn’t pick a US puppet so why the outrage?
3
But we did put a US puppet/stooge in office - for Russia.
19
We aren’t outraged that the U.K. voted for somebody with the UK’s best interest in mind. We’re outraged for the same reason we have Trump (who doesn’t have the US’ best interests in mind).
4
@JP
@historyRepeated
Well then, if you believe that’s actually how it happened, now it is time to experience what the US did to many countries.
2
The monarchy is so silly.
2
@BLR Hmmm...would far prefer to live in a Constitutional Monarchy like Canada than in a republic like America with your Electoral College that gave the world Mr Trump.
5
Being fairly (or greatly) ignorant of just how the British Government works, I simply don't understand Queen Elizabeth
recognizing this clown as PM. Has the world gone completely mad?
5
Would that the Queen had worn gloves. For her health and security. God help the UK, now that the blustering, bumbling, mendacious Trump acolyte is at the helm. He claims now to want to unite the UK after his lies and nativism fuelled the unmitigated disaster to come, Brexit.
8
Churchill one held that office, met with the same Queen. Quite the slide in Prime Ministerial material.
13
@Anthony Jenkins
I am a great fan of Churchill, but give the new PM a chance-He could be the right person for the time!
7
Oh U.K.
I always have felt you held, at the end of the day, more wisdom and maturity compared the infantile, confused, morally groping U.S.
I take no pleasure in seeing you sink to a foolishness nearly as profound and destructive.
9
@Claytronica
Very well said, Claytronica! I could not agree more. The candle is burning low.
6
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems to have confidence that he can make Britain leave the European Union until October 31. If Brexit does not realize until the end of October, Boris Johnson will has to leave his positon. Which leave is better for the British?
8
Every now and then a country needs a fixer. The pretty, well mannered members of the club haven't done a very good job.
8
Except that Boris isn’t a “fixer”. He never was. And the issue of leaving the E.U. is very complex. Legally, technically and politically. But many in the U.K. believe that there is a “fix”. There isn’t. It requires sane adults with a realistic view of the world and the respective power positions and core interests of both parties to the negotiations.
I listened this morning on Irish radio to a member of the DUP, a Unionist political party in Northern Ireland, loudly proclaiming that the U.K. had to hold onto the prospect of “no deal” as their primary negotiating weapon. To understand this mentality you have to realise that this means that the U.K. is threatening to hurt itself and destroy the Good Friday Agreement (Irish Peace Process) if it doesn’t get its way. It’s like the famous scene from Blazing Saddles with the Sheriff holding a gun to his own head. “If you make us we’ll hurt ourselves.” This is like someone threatening self harm in a divorce situation, that they initiated, if they don’t get what they want. This is what a former great nation is reduced to.
Of course the E.U. know this because the E.U. negotiators and other Member States of the E.U. are the adults in the room. But the Brexiteers have no choice but to become even more shrill and hysterical. Because the alternative is facing the reality that the sunny uplands they promised were always a contrived deceit. That would require them to accept responsibility; instead they are trying to shift the blame.
1
God save the Queen! I always thought privileged white men failing up into leadership roles in government was a distinctly American dysfunction, a centuries old hangover from slavery. Apparently it happens across the pond too.
12
Ah, poor Queen Elizabeth. How low can it go? Britain has had its Mad King George and now it has Mad Boris, even worse than Boris of Rocky and Bullwinkle. The Queen probably is thinking it’s time to hang up her crown before Boris does what Philip tried to do: crash the economy and the nation on a wild ride in a crummy Rover doing a complete flip-over....
5
We are now stepping back into the dark ages.
3
Here is vulgar but humorous cartoon in a British newspaper about Boris Johnson (slide 2/50, the one with the green alien). You will need to be conversant with his history and the circus in British politics at the moment to understand the iconography. Enjoy!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-independent-daily-cartoon-a8575981.html
2
The race for the bottom has a new contender...
23
What an odd juxtaposition to have that heater fan thing set by the fireplace in such an ornate setting, like the Starbucks cup in the last Game Of Thrones episode. Anyway, I want one if it is good enough for the Queen. Make and Model No.?
5
noticed that!
1
Looking at the photo, before even rdg. the article, my first three thoughts were:
1) Poor Queen E II!
2) Well, at least Boris combed his hair for the occasion. Sort of...
and
3) I’d love to know what the Queen was really thinking behind that gracious smile!
10
@Cathy F.
Let me suggest an answer:..." I really don't know who you are, I've been doing this for 67 years, and I do so hate the Telly so please tell me who you are and what you want and who let you in...I have a pistol in my purse and if you try anything, I'll give you what for, young man! Would you care for some tea? Perhaps the loo to tidy up...you look a bit out of sorts..."
4
I was at an E.C. press briefing in Brussels when Boris asked a question. A friend, who was then a reporter at Reuters, pointed him out and encouraged me to read about his abysmal reporting history. He lies. He is intelligent (for an opportunist buffoon ), which makes him particularly dangerous. He'll go any way the wind blows.
14
The US/UK exhausted itself. They neglected some of the negative trends and ignorance within their own countries. The US/UK is slowly receding from the spotlight.
Hopefully the Russia’s and China’s of the world don’t take undue advantage of the free people’s in their regions
1
@Practical Thoughts Don't take undue advantage? You're joking, right?
6
@Chris,
Not joking. Russia and China will take advantage of their weaker neighbors. That’s going to happen as the American deterrent is watered down.
Undue advantage would be sending soldiers into Georgia or Latvia. Occupying islands in the South China Sea by China or turning up the heat on Japan.
You don’t know what’s coming.
9
Poor Queen. She must step up and do her duty yet again, no matter again how onerous it is. (This meeting following the one with Trump...I don't envy her!) Well, the experience counts, in handling things, as always.
6
Your American cousins wish only the best for England in these uncertain times. Since the days of the special friendship between FDR and Churchill, and others in ensuing years, the bond between our countries has always been strong. We hope that Brexit will not happen. Perhaps Parliament and the citizenry will finally stop it but if the new PM does manage to push it through we genuinely hope that it won’t end up creating an economic disaster for country and its people. Godspeed, cousins! America will always be there for you.
21
@Keith D. Kulper
Thank you very much Sir.
4
@Keith D. Kulper The friendship will endure, of that I'm sure.
The majority of UK voters democratically decided in 2016 to leave the EU - and that is precisely what MUST happen if our democracy is to survive.
The EU has survived to date because just a very few nations - principally UK, France, Germany - have funded it by being net contributors. Indeed UK's contributions alone are larger than the first 19 other nations.
No taxation without representation. The EU parliament is not what it says on the box: it is subservient to the civil service EU Commission. That's right, the tail wags the dog.
Time we left, in fact long overdue we left this anti-democratic organisation that as I write is imploding.
5
Maybe our net-donor States should leave the generally “red” takers states to fend for themselves?
6
Johnson will get his wish, more than likely, to have the UK crash out of the EU on Oct 31. However, the UK won't last more than another year or two beyond that. Scotland and Northern Ireland will surely leave the UK so they can rejoin the EU. Wales will likely join them. The UK will be no more.
Ironically, though, Johnson likely won't even be the last PM of the UK. It'll be surprising if he lasts much beyond Oct 31. The people of England will realize how little they actually meant to Johnson and much they're going to suffer as a result of Brexit. Johnson's ego, power play and lies will have finally caught up with him.
Maybe Johnson will end up well off, though, at least financially. It seriously wouldn't be surprising if there's already millions of pounds waiting for him in some offshore account somewhere, placed there by his sponsor Putin.
28
@fact or friction
Speculation.
3
@fact or fiction,
Race is a powerful thing. The people that will be injured will be assuaged with immediate euphoria of closing down immigration and making life difficult for Poles, Nigerians and Romanians in their midst.
4
Fact or Fiction? The names were changed to protect Donald Trump.
6
At perhaps the most critical juncture since the Second World War, and just when you thought things couldn't get any more bizarre, a tiny (= 0.2%) group of reactionary pensioners decide that the next Prime Minister of the UK should be Mr. Toad.
And they say that satire is dead ...
13
I can’t help but notice that both Trump and his evil twin Johnson, two men without a true fact or accomplishment between them, were chosen to the highest positions in the lands over the highly derided but indisputably more qualified and accomplished Clinton and May. And there you have it.
23
Gallipoli 2.0
Except this time it's not the Aussies and Kiwis who are going to get slaughtered. "No problem," upper-class-twit-of-the-year Boris is about to drive Britain of an economic cliff of his own myth-making. Wait until all those middle-class, British leavers find they have to pay duty on the prezzies they bring back from Majorca. This is only going to get uglier.
14
"The former foreign secretary and London mayor, a polarizing advocate for Brexit"
Polarizing? What does that really mean? It is a loaded propaganda word. Like "divisive".
Every politician who supports a position disliked by many of the electorate is "polarizing".
Hillary Clinton was extremely polarizing...yet I've never read a single word in the "liberal" MSM describing her as such.
A classic example of Chomsky's "manufacturing consent" endemic to the Western Corporate Media.
4
@Brendan
I think it means that he separates (or divides) people into two camps with equally strong opposing views.
'Polarising' means something a bit like 'Marmite'.
Johnson is someone whom people like or dislike strongly and the nation seems to have been neatly divided, partly as a result of his activities into two groups of people attracted to opposite poles on the political spectrum.
3
@Brendan
I think it means that he separates (or divides) people into two camps with equally strong opposing views.
Johnson is someone whom people like or dislike strongly and the nation seems to have been neatly divided, partly as a result of his activities into two groups of people attracted to opposite poles on the political spectrum.
1
Yes the “court jester” is PM, “at time of deep divisions within the country and in his own Conservative Party”. And the is no division in the Anti-Semitic Labour Party (yes I do think that title is a proper noun).
Here’s a good left-wing source for the naysayers.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/14/john-ware-panorama-antisemitism-labour-corbyn-criticism
PS. There’s very little difference between the sentiments of the British left and the rising American left when it comes to this subject. You can Google the remarks of Ms. Omar and Ms. Tlaib. and see the same type of anti-Semitic troupes.
3
I fear for the British People. The middle, lower classes & the elderly will be harmed the most.
14
He has 99 days left and his gun is now loaded. There are only remainers and leaves. Each party is split between them. The government is now wholly leave as the public voted for. Its called democracy and this is Boris attempt to see it through. You can call it what you will because you sympathised with the losing side. Sort of like Hillary's dramatic end. Sorry to break your heart twice.
2
@Graham
That's all right Graham.
Funny how the very rich and influential have been overcome by respect for the 'democratic will of the British people'. At other times they seem eager to keep the British people out of their private schools and hospitals and on the lowest possible wages.
Funny also how people like Mr Putin are in agreement with them over this and people on the US alt-right too.
12
“The Government is now wholly leave which is what the public voted for.” No they didn’t. 48 per cent voted to remain. That was three years ago. It was an advisory non-binding referendum. Polls suggest a majority in favour of remain.
Democracy is not a one vote thing nor is it something where the interests of a large minority can be simply ignored. But in the first past the post British system, wherein the winner takes all, I can see why you would retain this peculiarly reductionist perception of democracy.
2
That's the right photo, watch for it again end of October. Whatever Parliamentarians may think about recent legislation for fall meetings, there's clear 2008 Canadian precedent for prorogation by a minority Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on representations of a "dysfunctional" government to the Queen's designate, the Governor General. That was during and in spite of efforts by a coalition of parties numbering a Parliamentary majority, to replace Harper. It was a grand surprise to many subjects of Her Majesty, that she actually has full residual constitutional authority, which is far beyond "formal" or ceremonial, to decide these things.
2
Ever wonder what she is carrying inside her pocketbook...to the Brits, let them eat cakes.
1
@Thérèsenyc1Thanks Terry we love to eat cake. Just one - not plural. And if that is not available...
3
If not God, may someone 'save the Queen' Elizabeth.
How many dolts has she had to 'welcome' and have meetings with over 60+ years.
The will of the people ... be it the U.S. or U.K. ... so often inexplicable and crazily, against their own interests.
Democracy, I guess.
6
@jazz one
Yes, let's pension her off.
1
I was hoping the Queen would bar the palace gates, but no such luck. Sorry, Britons.
8
Now, with so many clowns on the international scene, there will be a race among countries headed by clowns to change their national anthem to "Send in the clowns".
16
The US first and now GB. I thought that we would’ve learned from the first time but it seems that we haven’t.
8
The Queen of England has seen many prime ministers come and go, and I sincerely hope she is around to see this one hit the road, as well.
The Queen has the intelligence and poise to remain cool and calm while Boris blabs his Brexit fairy tale, knowing he won't do any better than May.
There needs to be another referendum on Brexit and after Boris hits the skids, maybe that can happen.
England, Johnson is your Trump with a better vocabulary, so fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night/ride. Best of luck. You'll need it.
22
Fake doom and gloom and indignation over EU practices, fabricated by Boris, duped the rubes into voting against the benefits of internationally cooperative progress, misrepresented as a doomed mess in a fear-mongered delusion of bad faith hypocrisy.
The only ready post-Brexit plan is to take the lead in the race for the corporate and big finance tax bottom and turn the U.K. into a tax paradise to the detriment of sound business practices and governmentability worldwide. That's as short-sighted as accelerating climate change is. We need a Paris Accord against the current disaster of escalating global tax avoidance and evasion via a web of anonymous shell companies, LLCs, tax constructs, loopholes, blockchain etc. replacing government with the Wild West of the big raiders of the common trough by shameless indulgence in political and market power abuse. Instead Boris, Vlad, Donald, Mitch, and Nigel look for handing themselves and their plutocrat puppet masters the reigns to cut all sound government and social programs and labor and consumer and environmental protections to further inflate already outrageous 0.01% profit margins. That's depraved. The White Spite House, the Grim Oligarchic Predators and their allies want the people to drink the Kool-Aids of their Graft, Greed, and Grope-agenda from KAGS: Keep Avarice Great Simulations for Know-nothing Armsnuts, Gullibles, and Subordinates, spreading Goebellian-Orwellian Propaganda to ram that toxic fluid program down our throats.
9
As for Brexit, rip the band aid off. Stop fooling around and get it done.
8
"Mr. Johnson promised to start work immediately on a series of policies including .....revitalizing social care and strengthening the National Health Service."
Good luck with that. The Tories specialize in austerity anyway, and the lie that Brexit would miraculously provide £350 million a week for the NHS will come back to haunt Johnson.
17:30 EDT, 7/24
11
"...Scotland the Brave is calling.
Hear, hear the pipes are calling!
Loudly and proudly calling,
down through the glen...".
9
I immediately wondered whether the Dyson fan placement was a political statement; it is a very odd thing for Buckingham Palace to have in a press photo like this.
The fan by the fireplace, of course, is a Dyson - Dyson is a famous UK technology company that's now one of the country's most recognizable brands. They announced in January that they're moving their headquarters to Singapore, and arguments abound regarding whether or not this is related to Brexit:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/annaschaverien/2019/01/25/dyson-hq-no-deal-brexit/#522c0ef22806
8
He's Marmite,to be sure.
I love it on toast in the morning.
2
These comments appear by and large to be infected with remoaner pessimism. Give the man a break; it's his first day after all. He's the right choice to get on with Brexit already and be done with the insufferably drawn-out affair.
4
How out of place is that Dyson fan?
Today will mark the high point of Johnson's premiership. Fine speech, full of promises, full of optimism. Now the hard part. The EU has been loudly and clearly stating that the withdraw agreement will not be redone, they stated it again today. But Boris promises he will get major changes done. He can propose whatever he wants, but the EU has already said no. The no deal exit that just days ago was a "million to one" chance of happening has suddenly had the odds drop to even money. But Boris says, no worries, the problems will be minimal. There is not a single sober expert who says that a no deal exit would not bring massive harmful effects to the British people. Boris responds with but were plucky people. He proclaims there will be no border checks for Ireland. He talks of "alternative arrangements." When does the public get presented with theses plans. Oct. 31 is just around the corner and the theory of a technical non physical border has been talked about there has been no concrete examples presented for examination, let alone EU approval. He has boxed himself so completely that No deal Brexit is happening.He will try to blame it all on May and the EU but that dog won,t hunt.
83
@KJ Peters It's interesting how these demagogues talk a big game with no details and then get mired in endless and fruitless negotiations when they have to deal with the leaders of other countries. It's only their own followers who seem blinded to the nothingness of their promises.
2
@KJ Peters You've unfortunately missed the essential point, though that's understandable not living in UK; we voted to leave the EU and No Deal was inherent in the Referendum (expressly stated by Prime Minister Cameron) as well as in the last General Election when it was expressly written into the Conservative Party election manifesto.
The sad part is that so many of our MPs are so enamoured with the EU (for its gravy train employment prospects) that they've done everything they can to block sensible exit planning and law making.
When we voted to leave the EU we did so to gain control over our borders, our money and our laws; and we knew that leaving might cause a few years of pain. We knew that and still voted to leave. I voted to leave and will tell any who ask, that there is no privation I will not endure to be free of the anti-democratic, left leaning socialism that is the EU. And I'm far from alone.
Boris Johnson is the leader we needed 3 years ago - better late than never. If the EU want a showdown, let's have it. It will hurt them more than us; we import hugely more from the EU than we export to it. Our largest single export market is with our greatest friend and ally, the magnificent USA.
Sorry that May had to leave this way, forever tainted by Brexit failure. She fought tooth and nail for what she thought would be the most reasonable way out of that Brexit-Bedlam. She is apparently very hard working and selfless person, somewhat too stubborn but one could live with it. Now one of the Bedlam's architects is taking over. I would not be too surprised if he fares better despite the obvious triumph of form over substance in his case. Such things do happen in life, some are in luck, some lack it.
43
@ss
Three cheers for Mrs May for her diligent work to negotiate the best Brexit deal possible. All she got for her trouble was a dagger between the shoulder blades. A hard Brexit will be hard times for Britain.
8
Scotland is going to get governed by a Prime Minister, that is elected by 160.000 members of the conservative party of which only 9.000 reside in Scotland, from a party that hasn't won a major election in Scotland in 64 years, to deliver a Brexit that 62% of Scotland's voters rejected.
What is happening to democracy around the world, first Trump, now this guy. Thanks Zuckerberg!
On a positive note, the Queen has a Dyson fan.
20
@Cheyenne
"On a positive note, the Queen has a Dyson fan."
You win the internet for today --
Also --
It's too bad the Queen no longer has the authority to send people to "The Tower" -- it would be a great method to help speed up the resolution of the Brexit issue -- and perhaps some other sticky bits of Parliamentary business...
3
“On a positive note, the Queen has a Dyson fan”
Positive? You mean Dyson the hard core Brexiteer who just moved his operation to Singapore?
4
Tennyson on "pluck, nerve and ambition" among the British in the Crimean War:
"'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred."
Now, another iteration of bombast, wishful thinking, and lies.
12
The real question is what broach Her Majesty wore and what that said. In meeting Trump she shared to Obama gift broach.
2
I am always amazed at how election processes in various "democracies" can appoint leaders who are the least likely to represent the populace as a whole.
48
Churchill, with his American mother and his British father, referred to the two nations and their offspring the "English Speaking Peoples". What is going on with the English speaking peoples? Choosing Trump and now Johnson? Brexit? The USA destroying the alliances it has relied on for decades? Britain leaving the EU and hence its own allies? It's incredible. It is as though the English speaking peoples have decided to commit mass suicide for reasons I can't identify. I wonder whether lemmings speak English.
178
@Neil Grossman
You can add Australia to the count of bad political choices.
14
We didn’t choose Johnson, just 100,000 members of the Tory party did, yet still he gets to be king.
The British system makes the electoral college look like a reasonable idea.
21
Putin’s plan is succeeding.
20
Good luck with that, you’ll need it
6
Back in the 16th century King Henry VIII technically split with continental Europe, it was tough, the country was split just like today. By the end of the reign of his daughter Elizabeth I, England was the most powerful country in Europe. As a nation we have gone through some tough times, civil wars, one (bloodless revolution) several wars with our European neighbours. Two world wars, the growth and loss of an Empire, I think as a nation we are well qualified to come out of the current crisis. If it comes to a choice between Boris Johnson or a Marxist leaning, terrorist supporting traitor such as Corbyn then Boris wins hands down. Johnson's job now is to show he can deliver on his promises, time will tell.
3
This reminds me of the advice written in the mice type when purchasing shares. ‘Past performance is not a guide to future performance, nor a reliable indicator of future results or performance.’
Some, in fact too many, continue to live in the moist eyed past in denial of a modern day, intricate globalised world.
16
@Trevor Downing
ehh, England was certainly not the strongets country in Europe when Elizabeth died. In fact, under the Stuarts, England was not a power at all in Europe. It took Cromwell to rebuild England as a power, although that was thrown away by Charles 2. James 2, of course,
basically allied with France, was overthrown and spent the rest of his life trying to get the throne back, as did his son and graaaaandson.
1688 was relatively bloodless in England, but it was a bloody mess in Ireland. It still is. Today, in NI, people are singing about how they
"...remember Derry, Aughrim, Enniskillen and the Boyne...".
I am an Anglophile. I wish you guys well but it is not going to be easy and I doubt very much that the UK holds together as currently structured. The Scots may not quite have a majority for Independence-yet- but they sure as can be do not want to be ruled by Tories.
14
@Trevor Downing
The UK does not survive either World War without the US coming to its rescue. I wouldn't count on that happening a third time.
7
Interesting that four of the most senior ministerial jobs in the UK are now occupied by:
The grandson of a Turkish muslim (Johnson)
The daughter of Indian-Ugandan Hindus (Patel).
The son of Pakistani Muslims (Javid).
The son of a Jewish Czech refugee (Raab)
Pretty diverse, Johnson is certainly not a racist.
And quite a melting pot!
7
@Soracte Ah, the old "He has friends who are X, therefore he can't be Xist!" defense. It holds as much water here as it ever does, which is none at all.
14
And these immigrants are the most pro-Brexit and anti-immigrant in many respects. It’s almost as if they have something to prove.
1
Like Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, the new prime minister Boris Johnson is "a fool who thinks he's a smart guy playing the fool."
41
What a degrading experience for Her Majesty.
30
The Queen has a fan like ours! (by the fireplace)
6
With all the cabinet resignations due to unwillingness to serve under BoJo as PM, it would seem he won't get majority support for what he wants to do from his own party, let alone from the whole of Parliament. The period until the next general election call could be very short.
12
@gbc1 I would like to see the performance of the PM as he attempts to appease the House of Commons during the weekly question and answer session.
Will he act like Trump, full of bombast, an overgrown ego and arrogance without peer, or, humble himself to the chamber that represents the people?
We shall see.
4
@Dan I'm revving up the popcorn maker...
2
@Dan in other words, he fits right in.
From Yes, Minister:
James Hacker:
How does it feel, Richard, to move from the Commons to the Lords?
R A Crichton:
Like moving from animals to the vegetables.
3
Sad way in which the poor woman was booted out with a cold handshake from the very displeased Queen , over the way in which she botched up BREXIT so badly over 3 long years! Now Boris has just 90 days to get a deal done....And get BREXIT over with.
3
She is thinking, "Oh jeepers, it's you. I had a bad feeling this day would come. My annus horribilis isn't over yet, is it? Good thing I brought Mace."
12
@Greater Metropolitan Area Love the pun!
1
So, now we know who will preside over the Britain's economic immolation, Brexit!
7
Dude, how bad can it be?
1
As a British born man living in the US, I always said I would move back to the UK if Trump was ever elected to a second term. Now I have to find a new country to escape too.
88
@Daryl Burchfield
What about Great Kingston?
Best government money can buy.
5
@Daryl Burchfield I've been checking out asylum requirements in Canada myself.
11
@Daryl Burchfield Cue the insufferable, clichéd virtue signalling *eye roll*
3
This parody outshines all the other parodies in the Universe. In a sad sort of way British politicians are amazingly talented.
3
Maybe a "no-deal" Brexit will be what Britain needs to wake up to the insanity of the nationalist movement.
15
It will be interesting to see how three prominent flavors of populist leaders pan out. Trump and Doug Ford in Ontario are so far showing how electing unqualified, inexperienced protest-vote candidates make for shoddy governance. Boris' experience and smarts (say what you will, but he is far more intelligent than the other two) may throw a twist into the outcome. He was, after all, a far better mayor than people thought possible. Good luck to him and the UK in dealing with the Brexit mess.
3
I don't understand why the NYT readers here seem to think the EU is an absolute good. It's not. It's an unaccountable bureaucracy in a foreign capital beholden largely to German interests. Switzerland is neither in the EU nor eurozone, how come there isn't nearly as much venom directed at Switzerland versus the UK for wanting the same? Let the British make their own destiny.
8
@Jonathan: Introducing the word "absolute" is always wrong. Well, in this case at least. Nobody, or, hardly anybody, thinks the EU is an absolute good. It probably has as at least as many flaws as the United States, as a way of people getting along. It's certainly worked pretty well for a long time now.
Britain is a big, active economy: Switzerland doesn't do anything but bank people's money, I don't think they even make cheese anymore, do they? Totally irrelevant.
7
@Jonathan
Switzerland negotiated its own deal with the EU, and has largely stayed out of EU politics as a result.
England has not stayed out of EU politics, and has continually attempted to impose its own will on the EU parliament, despite the fact that it never adopted the Euro (and never planned to).
The EU bureaucracy is accountable to member countries that are fully in the EU. That was never the case for England. Why should the EU be accountable to England when it won't even adopt the Euro?
9
You missed those European elections in May, I assume?
4
I hope that the Queen demanded that Boris behaves like a gentleman and clean up his act.
10
@Truth Is True
You mean like MI6's Christopher Steele?
@Alice's Restaurant
Christopher Steele is an EX- MI6 operative. Why should he behave as a gentleman?
2
@nolongeradoc
I'm certain, given his current MO, he never did--that's his job, right, a fraud?
Between Johnson and Trump it’s like Thing 1 and Thing 2. It’s going to be tough to tell them apart as they scurry about causing mischief.
47
@John Doe True to an extent, Johnson at least has a high level of education and is a voracious reader. Trump, not so much...
7
@Hootin Annie, I’m sorry, but voracious readers don’t impress me. My dad was a voracious reader in addition to being my father to which the first improved his being the second none whatsoever. About the only skill it seemed to improve was his ability to build bookcases to show them off.
4
Little England. Scotland will leave, and Northern Ireland will join the Irish Republic. The Pound will fall to 80 cents. The economy will shrink and population will age without immigrants from EU.
Maybe TATA Industries should charter "The East England Company" and colonize Mercia and surrounding territories, including London.
That would be poetic justice.
67
@MoneyRules. Who cares? It's not always about money. Some countries prefer to maintain their independent identity over making an extra 30 cents on the dollar.
I know the left wouldn't understand this given their preference for open borders and the destruction of nation-states.
6
@Jonathan
Milten Friedman. If this guy is the left what are you?
3
@Jonathan Yes a bunch of retired men and women. Those of us who need to make a living and feed our children, not so much. Those same children who will eventually have to care for their penniless, ageing parents even less.
10
This Queen took the throne in 1953. The first PM she dealt with was Winston Churchill. And today she met Bojo. Quite the slide.
77
@RNS 1952. But yes, quite a slide.
1
“The buck stop here...” We will see, but what a refreshing attitude compared to our, “The buck stops anywhere but here.”
5
She has seen some real winners go thru this process, but this one may top the cake. Too bad she has to endure people like Johnson and Trump.
27
Has anyone noticed how much Boris Johnson is like Trump? He even looks like Trump. I recently read a novel -- sorry, forgot the name or the author, or what happened! It was a good novel, I thought, but I promptly forgot everything about it except that for several pages I thought the author was talking about Trump as she described the unnamed new leader as (paraphrasing) an orange-haired ignorant disorganized bombastic know-nothing buffoon with extremely right wing leanings, including ugly racist anti-immigrant nationalism, who nevertheless had such an enthusiastic and loyal following. Then I realized she was talking about the new Mayor of London, Mr. Johnson.
23
@VGraz
Could it be that Boris Johnson’s hairdo is a nod to the Beatles and Trump’s DA to Elvis?
2
Johnson will attempt to pull the UK out of the EU without either a general election or the support of Parliament. This will be a disaster.
16
So why is brexit a good idea? I missed that part of the conversation.
57
@Bello
No you didn't.
No Brexiter has never been able to clearly explain the point.
If you listened VERY carefully, you might hear a lot of waffle and hot air about sovereignty and immigrants.
9
Boris is in way over his head. But at least there is finally a Brexit promoter in the hot-seat with actual responsibility to deliver all of the crazy promises that were made. That is, if he survives the almost certain vote of confidence that is quickly brewing.
9
Johnson is a high risk bet of the Torries that got nowhere with Ms. May, on the motto: Nothing wagered nothing gained.
Johnson shares several traits with former Aussie PM Robert Hawke, such as declaring at age 15 his goal would be to be PM, a messy personal life, an education at Oxford (on a Rhodes Fellowship) and the ability to connect with ordinary people
Stay put.
1
“Time to change the record”, he says. Yes Boris Johnson it is time indeed to change from “do our best for the country” to “do our best to do in this country”.
1
Seems the UK now has their very own version of bone spurs.
42
More material late night comedy shows!
17
Listen carefully (or read carefully) the first speech by Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. What is there in the way of actual plans for the future? It is, rather more of the same rhetoric of de Pfeffel Johnson: piffle, whiffle, whaffle.
The United Kingdom deserves better.
12
We are very amused.
4
Best wishes for a bright new future for our friends across the pond.
You have a nation of friends over here.
We know this is but a scratch, you will succeed at the end.
2
England is similar to the US in many ways. One of them is that we were both sold on new vehicles that don’t run on all cylinders. It makes for quite an uncomfortable ride. Let’s see who gets the better mileage.
16
@Bob Bascelli
He's not the prime minister of England though.
4
Poor Queen Elizabeth. Sixty-seven years on the throne, having a giant like Winston Churchill as her first British prime minister, watching 12 other prime ministers come and go, only to be rewarded the booby prize of Boris Johnson?
269
Imagining that scene gives me insight into why she hasn’t abdicated yet.
15
@Julie
Aside from having better manners and diplomatic skills, I fail to see what intellectual prowess in governance any royal has ever displayed.
Unlike any elder royal family member, Johnson managed to matriculate from a real university (Oxford) and worked as a journalist/columnist. His father worked as an economist for the World Bank before entering politics himself.
Unlike most of Windsors, Boris had yet to make most of his own money from renting out his land or selling jams, sausages and dishware with his face on them.
13
@Julie
"The Monarch can also dissolve Parliament, and appoint a Prime Minister to their liking, which has been done throughout Her Majesty's reign."
It's messy but it can be done.
17
Is this a Boris trifecta? Boris Karloff was a fetching Frankenstein. Boris Yeltsin had a notable Frankenstein reprise ending with the installation of Vladimir Putin. Brexit Boris is likely to add new dimensions in his Frankenstein role. I am reminded of 'poor Yoricks, I remember him well.'
10
@Keith Wheelock
It's Yorick, and "well" is not in the play.
4
Given the crisis in our own democracy, this is an enormous waste of newsprint. I’d be happy with a brief on developments in England: Leader, Brexit, Royals.
@Victor Sasson
As your country's crisis is informed heavily by its insularity and inward preoccupation, I'd say your post was somewhat apt.
Plus, foreign subscribers to the NYT (ahem..) are also interested in world-affairs, even if those affairs are occasionally a little close to home.
3
All My Best, Mr. Johnson. We support you. We know you will be a fine Prime Minister.
7
@Robert M
Who is "we?" It ain't "me."
33
@DaveB,
Why on earth would ‘you’ in Boston need to support a British Prime Minister? Let the Brits run their country as they see fit. Please.
15
@Andrea L The Brits certainly have the reins in their own affairs. The sanguine among us just didn't think they they drove like Americans.
2
The Queens should ask for hazard pay.
30
It's official: Ms. (Judy) Collins got from us, or, better yet, some of us, what she has been demanding for for decades now. Three years ago, a portion of the US electorate saw fit to send in a clown to run the country. And now a portion of the British electorate has done the same. The rest of us are, in the words of the late Gerry Rafferty, stuck in the middle with a joker to the left of us and a clown to the right.
42
@steffie
Stealers Wheel's " Stuck in the Middle With You " ( by Egan & Rafferty ) Our preferred theme song for the last 19 years
4
@steffie While we're riffing on NYT's Dylan/ counterculture essay--don't forget Steely Dan's "Only a Fool Would Say That." "I heard it was you/Talkin' 'bout a world where all is free/It just couldn't be/And only a fool would say that." Heavy on the irony.
2
Random question: Why is Her Majesty carrying a purse (in the photo)?
13
@Frank where else does she keep the tissues to wipe away the tears?
11
@Frank She’s moving to Canada. Her picture is already on their money.
23
@Frank
Exactly! She's at Buckingham Palace (presumably her home.)
1
Poor Liz, first Trump and now Boris. I used to mock the Royals - out of touch, out of date, superfluous. But in an ocean of imbeciles and opportunists, she stands out as one of the few bastions of integrity.
209
@GBP
Countries with royals are more stable than countries without royals. You can compare and contrast UK and France over the last 2 centuries and see how far France have fallen
6
@AmateurHistorian
North Korea is not doing that well with their Royal Dinasty.
Are you sure the UK did better than France over the last 2 centuries.?
What was the GDP of the UK vs France two centuries ago, and where is the ratio at this time?
4
@RicardoLook up the most admired, happy, best places to live countries and you'll see a preponderance of monarchies
3
Why does the Times only characterize Brexiteers as "polarizing"? Considering that Remainers are in the minority, it is they who should be so labelled.
3
@Charles
The Remainers are not currently in the minority based on recent polling. If there were a second referendum, there would be no Brexit. That's why the Brexiteers won't countenance another referendum. At the time of the original referendum, no one was talking about a hard Brexit. Farage said a Norway-style deal would be okay. It was a bait and switch. Particularly the "let's give the 350 million pounds a week we give the EU to the NHS." The Brexiteers said that was a nonstarter the very next day. It was based on disinformation and Russian interference.
65
@Charles
Excellent point!
Especially in light of the fact that Trump supporters are in the clear minority here in the US, shouldn't something be done to stop their malicious polarization of the country?
10
@Charles, the remainders were not in the minority in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
9
The way that Johnson makes everything into a question of will and determination (alternatively phrased as "pluck, never, ambition, do or die") is tiresome, and indicates to me that he's more interested in the attitude and verve in charging ahead than the value of the goal he's charging toward.
For instance, it's hard to see how pluck and moxie play into a no deal Brexit. IT seems to me that's more like giving up on getting a deal and just hoping for the best. It's more like going to hospice than fighting for one's life.
I
25
@Yeah
Johnson aspires to be the next Winston Churchill, he espouses Churchill's rhetoric, but shares none of his substance, and seems oblivious to the fact that Churchill would have no place in the Britain of today, and the sociopolitical realities of our time.
7
Brexit may become not only an impediment in mutually convenient financial relationships with the European Union, but a nail in the coffin of the peace it allowed for so many years, for everybody's wellbeing, and world progress towards justice. In that regard, Britain is showing immaturity and irresponsibility in not wanting to remain an integral part of what makes us trust that world affairs shall be conducted for everybody's benefit. As we know, the majority of Britons do not want Brexit, and certainly not Scotland and Ireland, enlightened as they are by the benefits of belonging to the E.U., especially now, being belittled (if not abused) by a vulgar bully on the other side of the Atlantic. Could it be that unserious Boris will become the laughingstock of the world, joining hands with dimwitted Donald?
88
@manfred marcus
The majority don’t want Brexit? They certainly have a different way of voting in the UK then: vote for what you don’t want.
2
The queen’s face in this photo mirrors my feelings. This irresolute man, whose ideas are shaped only by what is politically advantageous, is the last thing the UK needs at this troubled hour.
50
What a complete disaster for England.
139
@Richard
United Kingdom, or if you must, Britain.
Calling the country England is like saying Donald Trump is the president of California, forgetting the rest of the place.
14
@Miles
There was a time the words 'England' and 'Britain' were synonymous. the Americans like to keep up the old ways, cut them some slack.
7
Not just England, it's Scotland, Wales and northern Ireland too.
7
Why is the queen holding a purse? Was she just on her way out? Are they bumping fists? Inquiring minds want to know.
30
@J Her Majesty always carries handbag over her left arm during meetings When she moves the bag to her right arm it signals staff to rescue her from person she is with.
68
@J
She has to return some video tapes.
22
@J
She always has that thing. I would love to know what she keeps in there. Maybe it contains a 57 magnum revolver?
12
With Mr Johnson and Meghan Markle in tandem, Hollywood couldn't script a more compelling reality TV show.
9
@Bill Don't drag Meghan into this!
14
@William Ford
The Brits love to talk about our most recent cultural export. Go read British tabloids and the Meghan disaster. Harry would have made a better choice marrying one of the Kardashians
1