One of the things that many Leave supporting Britons worried about when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister following the departure of Theresa May, was how sound was he on the matter of leaving the EU? Would he favour the Establishment of Remainers and give us a Brexit in name only or would he show some balls and stand up to the EU? These worries intensified when it became clear that Boris Johnson’s Conservatives had scored a stunning election victory and given him a majority not seen for the Tories since the days of Margaret Thatcher. After all, with such a huge majority the Prime Minister doesn’t have to listen to the hard Brexiteers of the European Reform Group, he can basically do as he likes.
But there are signs that such fears might be misplaced. One of the biggest signs so far that Boris Johnson intends to play hardball with the European Union is the news that the PM intends to bring in legislation that would make further extensions to the UK’s EU membership illegal. This means that, deal or not, the UK will be finally out of the clutches of the EU (German) Empire by the end of December 2020.
For Leavers like myself this looks like a very positive sign. By making it impossible for the Remain faction in Parliament (a faction that although reduced in number is still there) to bully or manipulate the government into extending the UK’s membership of the EU, Boris Johnson seems to have planted his standard firmly in the ground on the subject of leaving the EU.
By drawing a line in the sand like this Boris Johnson also sends an important and powerful message to the EU. It tells them that the PM is aware of the EU’s tactics of applying delay after delay and obstruction after obstruction in order to wear Britain down. Now this may have worked with Theresa May or with the pre-election Boris Johnson government, because of the Parliamentary maths. There were not enough MP’s committed to Brexit to allow the PM to stand up to the EU and fix an immovable date for departure.
However now the situation is far different. With such a huge majority in the House of Commons Mr Johnson is unlikely to have his plans scuppered by the likes of Dominic Grieve or Phillip Hammond working hand in hand with a set of extreme Left opposition parties. This is good news for the prospect of a much cleaner Brexit than may have been the case prior to the election. It’s possible that no deal could be back on the table. But it may not come to that. I believe that the prospect of Britain having a legally fixed date of exit and no means for Brussels or its agents and sympathisers in Parliament to interfere with the process of Brexit would concentrate the minds of the EU’s rulers and make them more amenable to Britain’s position.
We will of course have to wait and see how this pans out. But I believe that because of Mr Johnson’s large majority in the House of Commons has strengthened the hands of Her Majesty’s Government against an EU. This is especially the case now that the EU is increasingly beset with problems both economic, political and social that Britain should exploit in its quest to leave a bloc that is more than likely going to implode sometime in the next decade.
