MvdV> Boris Johnson, got what he wanted. Het got his deal through parliament MvdV> before Christmas.
MvdV> Now what? It will have to be approved by the House of Lords as well. Do MvdV> you see any problems there?
No, I don't. Even if the Upper House were to reject it (very unlikely) it would then come back to the Commons, they would debate it and then send it up to the Lords again. This could happen two or three times but then the Commons would push it through for Royal Assent anyway. You see, the powers of the Lords are strictly limited. In reality, all they can do is advise the government but, in the last resort, they no longer have the power to block a bill, only delay it.
MvdV> Will the UK leave on 31 Jan?
As far as we can see into the future, yes. But little will happen immediately except that the MEPs will no longer be MEPs and the British PM will no longer be able to sit round the table with the other twenty-seven PMs. We shall continue to follow the EU regulations until 31st December 2020, by which time a trade agreement should be thrashed out. If it isn't then we leave without a deal. Boris will enshrine 31-12-20 in law so that it cannot be extended. But, judging by past events, that may not mean much!
I must confess to getting the mood of the country completely wrong, if the outcome of the general election is anything to go by. There could be any number of reasons why BJ got such a big majority:
1. More people were actually in favour of Brexit than we thought.
2. Those who didn't believe in Brexit just wanted to get things over and done with because they were sick and tired with all the delay.
3. The Labour party suffered from the poorest leadership for many years and their spending plans for the next parliament just weren't credible. They suffered a protest vote from those who lived in the Labour heartland and had never voted Conservative before. That, I think, was the biggest factor.
4. The Liberal Democrats had an inexperienced and somewhat naive leader who angered a great many of her supporters by saying that she would annul the result of the referendum of 2016. She lost her seat!
5. (and this is the dangerous one) Boris is an orator, the like of which we haven't seen since Winston Churchill. I don't say that BJ is in the same league, oratorially speaking, as WC but he does have the ability to make people feel good.
Boris has acknowledged publicly that he knows that he got a lot of votes from Labour supporters and has said that they have "lent him their votes", thereby admitting that, in the next general election, they will return to their first loyalty. But at least he knows that he has to address their needs (the National Health Service, education, housing, and the plight of the poorest section of society) in the next five years, needs which the Labour party themselves seem to have forgotten with all their infighting. Even Tony Blair's old constituency returned a Conservative this time and Boris has visited them along with many of the other die-hard Labour constituencies that turned blue to thank them personally.
The infighting within the Conservative party seems to have abated for the time being - not surprising with such a majority - but it won't have gone away completely.
Well, that's how I've summarised the result of the election in my own mind. But others may interpret things differently.
David
-- Formerly ICHTHUS (Reading) UK (1987-2007 R.I.P.) (2:292/854.110)
