Boris Johnson takes a wrecking ball to government and gets hit himself
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has eclipsed President Trump as the chaos-maker-in-chief. Just weeks into his tenure at 10 Downing Street, the new leader tried to take a wrecking ball to the political system and ended up hitting himself as well.
This is all in the latest chapter of the long-running drama known as Brexit. In the summer of 2016, British voters narrowly voted to leave the European Union. Nothing has been the same since. Government has been paralyzed, and the public’s dissatisfaction has grown steadily. Two prime ministers were taken down by the turmoil unleashed by that vote. Johnson could be the third. Or could he?
Like Trump, Johnson is much bluff and bluster — in look and action. At the dispatch box in the House of Commons, he looks slightly out of place, his hair permanently mussed and askew, his head cocked to one side or the other. But if he looks as if he doesn’t quite belong, he also seems to relish the political combat with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and others in the opposition. It hasn’t gone well.
Johnson is the antithesis of his predecessor, Theresa May, the impassive and by-the-book leader whose failed efforts over two-plus years to find a workable deal to take Britain out of the European Union forced her resignation and damaged her reputation. She must hope that Johnson’s initial floundering and flailing will make her look at least a bit better in retrospect.
Campaigning for the leadership of the Tory Party, Johnson had vowed to take Britain out of the European Union as it was scheduled to do on Oct. 31, deal or no deal. He insisted — based on no evidence — that by drawing that line in the sand, the leaders in Brussels would find it in their interest — as well as Britain’s — to produce something different and more acceptable than what May’s negotiations have brought forward.
That was the plan. Getting there has not gone according to plan, however. If Johnson had a clear strategy, it has not been evident. Instead, he has suffered crushing parliamentary defeats that have brought further attention to the dysfunction of the country’s political system.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/boris-johnson-takes-a-wrecking-ball-to-government-and-gets-hit-himself/ar-AAGRrH6?li=BBnb7Kz