Brexit: Labor May Force an Election

What a drama is erupting over Brexit in the Mother of Parliaments, where, with Brexit hanging by a thread, a British election is looking more likely — and none too soon, if you ask us. Even if the day was a defeat for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who doesn’t want a new election. Labor and the Liberal-Democrats, the latter being particularly hostile to Brexit, seem intent on forcing an election.The drama of this story couldn’t be more choice. It began today when Mr. Johnson’s Conservative government lost the majority of its support in the Commons — live before the world. The Prime Minister was reporting on his parley with the G7. Suddenly, a member of the Conservative Party, Phillip Lee, simply stood up and crossed the floor to take a seat with the anti-Brexit Liberal-Democrats.Welcome to the parliamentary system. As the move became apparent, the house erupted in, at first, cheers from the anti-Brexit crowd and then catcalls from the government benches. Then Mr. Johnson acknowledged it with a wave toward the Liberal-Democratic benches, wishing his colleague well. Then was back to the debate in a legislature whose roots go back more than a thousand years.Dr. Lee’s defection wasn’t in-and-of-itself a surprise. A physician, Dr. Lee, had already drafted a statement. It proffered the poppycock — standard among the anti-independence fear-mongers — that the Conservative government is “pursuing a damaging Brexit in unprincipled ways. It is putting lives and livelihoods at risk unnecessarily” and “endangering the integrity of the United Kingdom.”Dr. Lee is famously flighty. He quit Prime Minister May’s government over Brexit, although he didn’t cross the floor; it may be that his constituency was restive. In any event, the drama then turned to a debate to allow the house to consider an Opposition bill to force the Government to ask Brussels for a three-month extension past Halloween. No. 10 is calling it “Corbyn’s surrender bill.”The government, now with only minority support, promptly lost that vote, meaning that the opposition gained control of the agenda. So the “surrender bill” will be debated on Wednesday, with the aim of tying Mr. Johnson’s hands. Remainers hope to fast-track its Article 50 extension legislation and, if it wins the backing of both Houses, it would be ready to receive Royal Assent.On Sunday, talkshows tried try to pin down one minister, Michael Gove, in respect of whether the Government would bring the proposed bill to Elizabeth II. Mr. Gove was understandably reticent. The Disraeli-Macdonald Institute tells us that it wouldn’t be the first time government failed to bring an irksome bill to Her Majesty. The Sun recently favored Her Majesty withholding assent on a Brexit bill.More likely, with this Commons “coup” a clear signal that he has lost its support, Mr. Johnson will consider the alternatives. Generally, opposition parties are leery of going to the polls. We’d have thought more so in the current crisis, given the resurgence in public support for the Tories and the tightening deadlines before October 31. Labor’s repeated boasting of going back to the people has forced the issue.Mr. Johnson, meantime, has been opposing an election while the people’s business remains unfinished. If the Government is unable to act, though, he would have no choice but to appeal to the people. He’d at least be able to say that Mr. Corbyn made him do it. Odd, given that the Tories have been leading in public opinion and it was Mr. Johnson whose optimism turned around the 2016 Brexit referendum.________Correction: Phillip is the spelling of Dr. Lee’s first name, which was given incorrectly in an earlier edition.

Brexit: Labor May Force an Election

Brexit: Labor May Force an Election

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