Just when you thought Brexit couldn’t get any more intractable, it’s plunged further into the absurd.
Frustrated by Parliament from leaving the European Union on Oct. 31, Boris Johnson’s drive to break the deadlock with an election relies on the same lawmakers to go along with him.
But the main opposition Labour Party isn’t rolling over. Its leader Jeremy Corbyn says his decision depends on the length of a Brexit extension expected to be granted by EU governments. EU officials say they require clarity from London and today deferred a decision until after Parliament votes on Monday.
“It’s our duty to end this nightmare,” Johnson told Corbyn in a letter. The premier plans to suspend all efforts at legislating in the “zombie Parliament” and press relentlessly for a fresh ballot.
That offers no guarantee of resolution. Johnson’s Conservatives lead Labour in polls, but Brexit has shredded the fabric of party politics, making the outcome unpredictable.
The country is in a febrile mood. New research by the Future of England Survey, meanwhile, showed most voters on both sides of the Brexit debate think violence against MPs is a price worth paying and expect protests in which people will be badly injured.
The survey’s co-director, Professor Richard Wyn Jones, said he was genuinely shocked by the findings — all the more so since fueling further division may be a deliberate campaign strategy.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.