Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 53

Reviving Theresa May’s deal is the only way out of the Brexit nightmare | Simon Jenkins

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn should steer this crisis to resolution and leave decisions about soft or hard Brexit for later

So what now? Boris Johnson’s tactic of leaving Brexit to the last minute and then serving up a dog’s breakfast seems unlikely to work. Both Dublin and Brussels have effectively rubbished it. The offer to the EU is absurd. In place of Brexit’s promised “no border on the island of Ireland”, he offers two borders: a customs one on land and a regulatory one in the Irish se...

I used to think Boris Johnson could get a Brexit deal. Not after last week | Simon Jenkins

Under the spell of Dominic Cummings, he offers only robotic slogans. Now, like his predecessor, he may fail to leave the EU

I cannot recall a more critical week in British politics. It will decide whether parliament, the law and public opinion can hold the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to account, or whether a new poison has entered public life. We need constantly to remember that Britain faces no menace to its security or prosperity. It could by now be outside the EU with agreed terms of tra...

Like it or not, Boris Johnson still has two paths to election victory | Simon Jenkins

No matter how arrogant and incompetent he is, no matter that he broke the law, the supreme court ruling can work in his favour

It’s the morning after. Yesterday was a ball, at least for remainers. But it was like the Duchess of Richmond’s ball before Waterloo; now, the real battle must commence. The supreme court did not rewrite the UK’s constitution on Tuesday, it merely enforced the conventions of the existing one. It reasserted, “Be ye never so high, the law is above you” – though it cited...

Boris Johnson has to deliver a Brexit deal. And now he may be on track to do it | Simon Jenkins

He has no choice but to reach agreement with Brussels. But the DUP’s softening position could grant him a real political coup

The good ship Brexit surges forward, jagged rocks and whirlpools on all sides. Non-papers are on the table. The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, says: “We can have a deal.” The French and the Finns have given Boris Johnson until the end of the month to show “if his deal exists”. He wants to wait until after the Tory conference in two weeks, or...

Johnson’s cynical ‘tough on crime’ talk shows the depth of his incivility | Simon Jenkins

His ‘aggressive’ new approach isn’t just hollow, it shows how willing he is to descend into rightwing populism

The thesis that Boris Johnson is a liberal in Tory clothing is shot to ribbons. His latest proposals on crime, leaked by a “Whitehall source”, are a shameless lurch to the wilder shores of rightwing populism. In next month’s Queen’s speech, he will apparently “get tough” on crime by increasing the severity of sentences. He wants “life to mean life” for child murderers, together with m...

The Brexit crisis is political. Its resolution must be political too | Simon Jenkins

Whatever the supreme court decides, Boris Johnson should recall parliament and compromise on the Irish backstop

Boris Johnson is looking like Saint Sebastian, pierced with a thousand arrows but with a saintly smile on his face. Next week more judges join in the archery, as the supreme court begins his prorogation case. Who knows what damage they might do? Their task is simple. The purpose of a supreme court is not to avoid politics but to set its rules, to frame it in law.

This week’s Scottish...

The London arms fair is an inexcusable disgrace – it’s a stain on the nation | Simon Jenkins

British-made weapons fuel violence around the world – much of it perpetrated by repressive regimes. It must stop

This week’s London arms market – decorously called a “fair” – is a national disgrace and the protesters currently calling attention to it are right. It is a shameless marketplace for global death and destruction, vitiating any work done by British diplomacy in support of a more peaceful world.

The best apology the government can offer is that it “supports jobs”. The same line of argu...

The prime minister revels in war rhetoric, but could end up its victim | Simon Jenkins

What should be reasonable trade negotiations are being cast as a battle for the nation’s soul. Nothing good can come of it

Boris Johnson wants war. He knows Britons love war, especially with Europe. He and his allies have turned a technical debate about trade policy into a Battle of Britain. They suggest ludicrously that the national economy faces an existential threat from Europe. They forget that in times of war countries seek to cohere, not descend into partisan strife. A single-issue gener...

Splitting the Tories now is stupid. But Johnson knows only tribal machismo | Simon Jenkins

Confrontation or court cases won’t solve Brexit divisions. Any compromise from Brussels requires a united ruling party here

Boris Johnson claims that anyone who opposes his increasingly likely no-deal Brexit is anti-democratic, against the “people”, a closet remainer or a Labour voter. Such abusive mendacity is no help.

Related: Tory deselection threat 'may boost plan to stop no-deal Brexit'

Continue reading...

Only one person can avert a no-deal Brexit. And that’s Boris Johnson | Simon Jenkins

It’s too late for parliament to thwart his antics. But if the agreement were revived he could claim Brexit as a victory

This is not well done. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, displays cowardice and mendacity in insulting parliament with enforced suspension, and then in claiming that it has nothing to do with Brexit. It has everything to do with Brexit. It is not just an insult. It is a lie.

Related: Boris Johnson is trashing the democracy fought for with the blood of our ancestors | Owen Jo...