NYT editorial gives a bleak, frank take on Boris Johnson's election and consequences

[hlthe2b]

There is a lot more detail in the full opinion piece written by a British journalist that would be useful to those who don't fully grasp the complications and full implications (including with Scotland and Northern Ireland). Honestly, I don't know how the British people can countenance this figure, elected by an electorate 0.2% of the population, selected from shortlist drawn up by 0.0005% of the population, and leading a party that holds only 23% in the polls. Sigh.


Opinion
Boris Johnson Is How Britain Ends

Not with a bang, but with a burst of blond ambition.



https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/opinion/boris-johnson-prime-minister-britain.html

LONDON — Boris Johnson, to whom lying comes as easily as breathing, is on the verge of becoming prime minister. He faces the most complex and intractable political crisis to affect Britain since 1945.
That should be concerning enough. But given Britain’s political system — which relies for its maintenance on the character and disposition of the prime minister — it carries even graver import. Mr. Johnson, whose laziness is proverbial and opportunism legendary, is a man well practiced in deceit, a pander willing to tickle the prejudices of his audience for easy gain. His personal life is incontinent, his public record inconsequential.

And his premiership could bring about the end of Britain itself.

The state of the United Kingdom, a constitutional compact founded in 1922 and stretching back, in one form or another, for centuries, is severely strained. Though Brexit is primarily driven by English passions, two of the four territories in the Union — Northern Ireland and Scotland — voted to remain. Both present immediate problems for Mr. Johnson — and for the future of Britain. --snip--

At home, the rise of the Brexit Party constrains his options further. In part to nullify its threat, he has promised that unless a deal is reached by the end of October, the deadline for Britain’s departure from the bloc, he will leave without one. And as Parliament, which remains intractably divided, is very unlikely to ratify anything Mr. Johnson presents, a No Deal exit looks far from impossible. The consequences of such a development cannot be foreseen — but they will surely not redound to the benefit of Britain.

[riversedge]

1. Johnson fans and Trump fans--they both fail their countries.

[lagomorph777]

2. Another victory for Putin.