Uk politics

The stronger the prospect of a general election, the easier it will be for Boris Johnson to get through the week that Britain was supposed to be leaving the European Union. He had said he would rather 'be dead in a ditch' than miss the deadline, but is now taking a two-pronged approach to distracting everyone from the fact that Thursday will come and go, and Brexit will still not have happened. The first part of this plan is to make sure that it is clear parliament is to blame for missing the 31 October deadline, rather than the Prime Minister who placed so much emphasis on it. So the repeated message from Johnson and his allies is that 'this parliament is broken' and that the 'country is being held hostage'.

When Rory Stewart declared his candidacy for the London mayor, there was some concern in CCHQ that the former Conservative MP could eat into Tory candidate Shaun Bailey's vote share. Stewart has been keen to pitch himself as an outward looking politician in touch with modern Britain. While there's still some way to go to polling night, the initial signs suggest that Stewart's own efforts will be no walk in the park. Stewart has found himself under criticism after he described three East London men he met back when he was campaigning to be the next leader of the Conservatives as 'minor gangsters'. https://twitter.com/RoryStewartUK/status/1137811697027170309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Stewart attempted to speak to the group as part of his trademark campaigning walks.

The UK and Brussels are currently engaged in a waiting game – only no one is sure who is waiting for whom. EU leaders had been expected to announce the terms and length of an Article 50 extension this Friday. However, that decision has been put on hold in light of Boris Johnson's call for a general election – with MPs voting on a motion on Monday. Speaking in Brussels following a meeting of ambassadors, Michel Barnier – the EU’s chief negotiator – said 'no decision' had been made on a way forward. A decision is likely to be made on Monday or Tuesday. EU leaders want to wait and see what happens with the election vote.

Boris Johnson will make his third attempt to call a general election. In an interview with the BBC, the Prime Minister unveiled his new offer to opposition MPs: he will bring the Withdrawal Agreement Bill back to the Commons on the condition that there is a general election on 12 December. Explaining his decision, Johnson said that he believed the UK was heading for an extension – something he regretted. He said he was willing to bring his Withdrawal Agreement Bill back to the Commons so long as MPs agree that a general election will follow. The reason? 'In order to create a deadline that is credible in everybody's mind then there must be that hard stop of a general election.' But is it in Johnson's control when an election happens?

Boris Johnson has cancelled his appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee tomorrow morning, arguing that he feels he should devote himself to trying to secure a Brexit deal. In a rather last-minute cancellation, the Prime Minister has written a personal note to the Committee's chair Dr Sarah Wollaston in which he argues that it would be much better for the MPs to question him when he has been in the job for five to six months, as it did with his predecessors. This is a valid argument, but it would carry more weight if Johnson had made it from the outset, rather than at the sort of time that students start trying to come up with slightly daft-sounding excuses for not handing in an essay that was set months ago.

The Withdrawal Bill that has been published is pretty dull stuff – even by my standards. There are nonetheless rather frantic efforts to pretend it is in any way terrible. It isn’t. For one reason and one reason only. Like the 1972 Act, all the Bill does is bring the Withdrawal Agreement into UK law. I find that conceptually interesting. The way these treaties are only international law. The way that international law is irrelevant and pointless, unless and until it gets enacted into domestic law. These things comfort me as a reminder that nation states, democracy and the people still matter. It rather penetrates the confected pomp of those who pretend EU law is a real thing and not merely international law in a moustache and dark glasses.

Boris Johnson has been criticised for sending the European Union a letter conveying his real opinion about a Brexit extension along with a photocopy of the letter Parliament dictated and forced him to send. Yet the Prime Minister was entirely justified – and right – in doing so. Parliament certainly can – and should – decide what a Government is allowed to do. But no parliament can tell a prime minister what to think, what to feel or what to believe. And the consequences of MPs attempting to do that could quickly backfire.  Take the European Union. Dealing with the EU is the role of the executive. When my government decided to withdraw Iceland’s application for EU membership, it was an executive decision. Parliamentary approval was not sought.