I have a theory about Boris Johnson and his no-deal Brexit plans.
He’s a historian with a great eye on history. My theory is he first of all just wanted to go down in history on the list of British PMs, have his painting on the wall of Downing Street (or wherever PM portraits hang).
He succeeded. His name is now in the history books forever, whatever happens. He’s not stupid. He knew to win the leadership contest and become PM, he HAD to be a hard brexiter. So he was. Nothing else mattered at that time.
But now he has already guaranteed his name has gone down in history, he has to deal with the promises he made to his party and the hard brexiters who elected him.
But again, he’s not stupid. He knows very well a hard no-deal Brexit will bankrupt the country. And that doesn’t look good in the history books. So what to do?
He doesn’t back down – that would make him look like a flip flopping, cowardly PM. So he can’t back down but he can’t push through a Brexit that will ruin the country and make him one of the worst PMs in history either.
So he pushes an even harder Brexit that he KNOWS will have to be stopped by parliament and the EU would never agree to.
What happens? He becomes the no-compromise, hardline, ‘tough’ PM who tried to implement a referendum vote. Historians can argue among themselves in future eras about how democratic the referendum was. But in history he goes down as a tough, uncompromising PM who was unsuccessful in his plans only because they were ‘thwarted’ by others: the EU, parliament, etc etc.
So, think about it. For him, it doesn’t even matter if he is forced to have another election. And it doesn’t matter even if he loses the election and is one of the shortest PMs in history.
He goes down in history as a strong, ‘principled’ PM (which of course he isn’t). Every scenario is a win-win for him, in his mind.
Unless, of course, he backs down.
Or – curiously – unless a no-deal Brexit actually happens and he becomes the PM responsible for an economic disaster.
This explains why Johnson is giving conditions for a Brexit he knows will never be accepted.
He wants to be stopped.
Robert Greenhalgh said:
A cynical and arrogant Old Etonian: could such a thing be possible?
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Patrick Ellis said:
Interesting thought, who can say? Although l won’t be putting all (or any) of my eggs in that particular basket.
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Tony Spence (@TonyBuxtonius) said:
Alternatively he and his chums could be expecting to make so much out of a hard brexit that he simply couldn’t give a toss if he ruins the country and goes down n history as the man who broke Britain, he’ll be elsewhere with his chums and their ill-gotten fortunes.
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Roger Alexander said:
I have always thought this
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jasper2611 said:
I’ve wondered about this too. Think you might be right! Jo
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granddadscott said:
I can see that as the way his mind works but above all I hope that the ridiculous Brexit is stopped altogether. I have no concern about what history thinks I am very worried about my children’s and grandchildren’s future. Wish one Brexit cancelled wish two Boris Johnson looses the next election.
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Martin Pick said:
Interesting (particularly bearing in mind that Johnson wasn’t that committed to Leave anyway)!
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John Bainbridge said:
A lot of sense in that.
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John Davie said:
OR! he holds on almost to the finish line THEN resinds Art 50. Due to EU, MP’s etc
Becomes the PM who has saved us when the true nature of No Deal becomes apparent!
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JSM said:
Reblogged this on Ramblings of a 50+ Female and commented:
Interesting!
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Duncan Spence said:
I think this is essentially accurate. Boris is only interested in Boris. If he excluded or unelected then he will always still be able to bark on with the usual Boris knows best narrative.
He must also already be ruffling more feathers than expected; whatever happened to austerity? All these billions! Where are they coming from? Increased taxes? A money tree?
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Meryl Davids said:
Why would trading under wto conditions beca disaster it is the most used system in the world and as theceu is a member in its own right it has to follow the regulations no loser has ever been able to substantiate their negative claims
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Jim Campbell said:
No one except *Mauritius* trades SOLELY under WTO terms… which is the exclusive club we’d be joining in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
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granddadscott said:
You obviously haven’t done your home work. Meryl Davids It is a system of trading fairly with rules applied as a minimum. There are no countries in the world trading on WTO rules only. They have all made Trade agreements with different countries just kike we had /have with the EU. As a European Union member, the UK is automatically part of about 40 trade agreements which the EU has with more than 70 countries. so far the government as signed 12 trade deals with mainly small trading countries which will not cover all those lost if we leave.
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rotzeichen said:
The Tories have been playing mind games from the start, the idea that a prime minster doesn’t even tell her negotiating team what her plans are for them to negotiate was a ludicrous position to take, but it did prolong the talks, even as they turned up to the first meeting without even a pen and paper to take notes with, tells you everything about how the viewed it all.
It really doesn’t matter to them whether they crash out or Europe caves in, its their deal with Trump that matters to them, the NHS has been carefully constructed so American HMOs can walk in and take over the parts of the NHS which will be profitable to them. Britain then becomes the virtual 51st state of the US and life for us will mirror that of the poorest states in America.
The only way we save our country from that is by voting Labour under a Jeremy Corbyn government, no other politician has the courage or strength of character to pull this country out of the abyss we are heading for.
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rotzeichen said:
Here is evidence of the trade deal negotiations with Trump. We should also make no mistake that Trump has got his eyes firmly set taking over large parts of our NHS, Simon Stevens and his NHS England have already done the preparation (ACOs) accountable Care Organisations in readiness.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1159530/Brexit-news-trade-deal-US-Nigel-Evans-Boris-Johnson-update-latest
This is even more specific and Jeremy Hunt spells it out from his own mouth, Kaiser Permente is what is called an HMO and ACOs created by Simon Stevens are a carbon copy, that makes it easier for American health companies to walk into them.
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hilary772013 said:
Reblogged this on hilary77blog.
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Mr. Magoo said:
Brexit won’t happen. We’ve spent the last 3 years arguing about nothing. There is no way the UK can leave the EU and keep a soft border between Norther Ireland and the Irish republic, apart from a Brexit so soft it will almost be the same as remaining (e.g. the much hated ‘backstop’ part of Mrs. May’s deal).
Parliament will do everything it can to prevent a no-deal Brexit, and the Queen won’t shut down parliament so we can collectively shoot ourself in the head.
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Christine Cullen said:
I detect the twisted mind of Dominic Cummings in everything Johnson does. Smoke and mirrors make it difficult to agree with the premise or disagree. One thing is for certain, the Labour Party needs to be able to read him better.
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emberglance said:
Totally agree
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Joan Phillips said:
Whatever he might thinking, he’s got to be stopped. Unprincipled chancer! Jo WP.
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mistymole said:
I’ve said this from the minute he put himself forward as candidate. Let’s hope we’re both right.
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Senior reader said:
I don’t think Johnson’s that interested in money. He has other axes to grind. I agree with the post. His vanity points to the desire for a place in history. I think he’s maybe even more interested in the painting on the walls of Eton college than in number 10 – no doubt because he never made the cricket or rugby team at school.
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