How could he? The whole Brexit premise was founded on ‘take back control’ and restoration of parliamentary sovereignty and what does Johnson do? He and his supplicant ministers agree to suspend parliament for fear of being forced into an about turn on a no deal Brexit. Parliamentary democracy crushed temporarily in one fell swoop. Shocking in its brutality.
Responses confirm this and we now have a country at war with itself politically. In addition to the predictable howls of anger from the opposition parties, the Speaker, John Bercow, and Lord Heseltine, the former Tory Deputy PM, call it a ‘constitutional outrage’; John Major, the former Tory PM, seeks advice on the legality of this action to prorogue parliament; Philip Hammond, the Chancellor in Theresa May’s government, calls it ‘profoundly undemocratic’ and Dominic Grieve, the former Tory Attorney General, is ‘working like wildfire’ to block the government’s move.
The lunatics are in charge of the Tory asylum and, if there was no doubt, the fantastic leader of the Scottish Tories, Ruth Davidson, is quitting. She rejuvenated the Party north of the border with a punchy, down to earth, moderate version of Toryism. She has been rewarded by being sidelined. Davidson will probably cite personal as well as political reasons for departing but we suspect the real reason. She cannot stomach the direction of her Party.
And yet Johnson may win his battle. His determination to achieve the goal of leaving the EU at any cost by 31st October is a wonder to behold. He has deliberately ensured he has no other option. It is ‘do or die’ and the power of incumbency is finally being exercised effectively. But it is a Corbynite Labour Party in particular, and a fractious, mediocre opposition in general, who are his greatest allies. Together, they are not a credible alternative government with no reassuring consensus on how to manage the current Brexit impasse.
The country just wants Brexit done and, in frustration, may temporarily shut its eyes to the longer-term consequences of a disastrous EU departure and the trashing of our unwritten constitution. With an additional sweetener of a spending splurge on police, the NHS and education, Johnson may just rush first over the finishing line in the almost certain imminent General Election. He has seized the initiative.
And yet… Johnson’s strategy is incredibly high risk and unexpected events could easily derail his plans. The departure of Ruth Davidson is the first of these and has started to change the odds on a General Election victory. It is a bitter blow. Can the Tories really win an election with resurgent Liberal Democrats taking southern seats and the post Davidson Party now to be humiliated in Scotland? We could be talking about a loss of 70 seats.
The longer-term price of Johnson’s actions is huge, not least, as I have written before, the destruction of the Conservative Party as we know it. But these issues are for another day. Let’s hope Johnson’s fortunes deteriorate and he receives a bloody nose for his cavalier actions in the coming weeks. The country will not regret it.