It comes as no surprise that Boris Johnson’s principal cheer leader in his push to suspend Britain’s parliament came from his partner in the bad hair department – Donald Trump.
But as news was spreading about Queen Elizabeth having approved the UK leader’s appeal to shut down parliament – a process called prorogation – Johnson fast found himself in the most alienated position on home turf since he took over from Theresa May.
Protesters shouting “coup” and headlines claiming that a “constitutional crisis” was about to tear the UK apart, were expected.
But Johnson has been taken aback by the resistance from within his own ranks, riven as it has become by vexatious remonstrations against hell-bent determination to lead the UK out of the EU, even if it means derailing the country’s economy.
A former Conservative Party chief whip, Nick Boles, said although “they may win this particular battle, they will lose the war”.
Warning that a no-deal break of trade ties from the economic bloc that the UK joined in 1973 would plunge Britain in crisis, Boles argued that the injury of a hard Brexit was not without irony and ignominy.
“As a result of the grotesque overreach of those who insist on severing all of our ties with the EU, the UK will become more like a typical European country and may eventually rejoin the EU on worse terms.”
Fellow Tory and speaker of parliament, John Bercow, also raised alarm at what it means for the country, particularly for Britain’s present political stability.
Railing against the suspension of parliament as a clear and cunning strategy to silence the voice of dissenting lawmakers by depriving them of the opportunity to formulate policy against a hard Brexit, Bercow slammed yesterday’s prorogation announcement from Buckingham Palace as the worst threat to the UK’s constitutional democracy in decades.
Johnson, or course, has dismissed the growing din of denunciation as “nonsense”, saying that MPs will still have an opportunity to have their say when parliament reconvenes on October 14.
Opposing parliamentarians, however, feel that it won’t give them enough time as the EU parliament will meet on October 17 and 18 for an all-important session on Brexit, mere days away from the October 31 departure deadline.
In the meantime there is growing support among Brexit resistors in Johnson’s 650-member parliament to seek a separate audience with the Queen.
And although Johnson showed what a skilful strategist he is with yesterday’s prorogation move, his majority in parliament, such as it is, is one seat strong and support for a no-confidence vote in him has picked up momentum.
The support he has from his neo-nationalist buddy in the White House may soon be the only unchallenged love Boris can boast about.
