Super Saturday – the day of the “historic vote” about the deal that Boris Johnson brought from Brussels – ended with yet another showdown with parliament. On Monday or Tuesday, the British Prime Minister wants to resit and still hopes to get his way.
Johnson’s indestructible optimism is being put to the test. Many tens of thousands of Britons took to the streets yesterday to demand a new referendum. That will not happen, according to the militant prime minister. Last week he was the celebrated boy in Brussels – because then there was a deal that would prevent a chaotic exit. Now Johnson has had to request a formal postponement of the Brexit deadline of October 31 from the cross parliament. At the same time, the same Johnson sent a letter to Brussels last night, saying that it was not actually necessary because the matter would still be settled. With the threat still that no deal-brexit that nobody wants. Plus another letter from the British ambassador to the EU arrives with the result that European leaders wake up this morning with no less than three times mail from London announcing opposite messages.
But nevertheless, there is hope for Johnson as well. If he still gets the Northern Irish party DUP – strong negotiations are underway – and when the doubts put out earlier – Conservatives return – half agreed with the government again yesterday – then it can just happen next week. Including some support from Labor dissidents. And then that soft brexit is a fact on October 31. Then Johnson has succeeded what predecessor Theresa May did not succeed. And according to many people with a worse deal too. But that is food for psychologists.
On Monday, the British government wants to put the Brexit deal back to the vote. Whether that succeeds immediately depends on the House of Commons chairman John Bercow, who must decide whether this has all gone according to the rules and whether other votes are necessary before the time has come, for example about those contradictory letters from the prime minister.
With new cliff hangers in sight, millions of people around the world are enjoying the Brexit spectacle. But after three years many Britons also do well. For the latter category, the British Sky News has started a temporary Brexit-free news channel.
The channel is up and running for five hours a day, without mentioning the b-word that has dominated the news and newspapers since June 2016. It was hoped that the channel could be released again on 31 October but the latest developments in the Lower House and Downing Street make that doubtful. Good news for those who have subscribed to the Brexit soap, but a depressing prospect for the millions of Britons who now have tobacco. Everything better than continuing with this crap is what you often hear in dial-up programs on the radio.
According to John Ryley, the boss of Sky News, the brexit-free channel is needed because “it smothers all other news”. Half of a news broadcast is often about brexit. “Sometimes viewers feel the need to hear something else”. There are also sounds from a medical point of view that the lingering brexit may possibly be associated with an increased number of complaints about insomnia, bad mood and stress. Antonis Kousoulis, director of the England and Wales at the Mental Health Foundation: ,, It started with a lot of anger and denial from people who wanted to stay in the EU, now we see the same with people who voted for brexit because they just couldn’t do it arrange for. Now everyone is unsatisfied. ”
According to research by opinion poll YouGov, 40 percent of Britons say that they sometimes feel powerless, angry or worried because of Brexit. One in ten has bad nights. Two in ten have fears related to Brexit in one way or another, in London even three in ten. Kousoulis can agree with a brexit-free channel.
The Sunday newspapers do not yet use brexit-free pages. “Humiliating defeat,” headlines The Observer. The left-wing newspaper also emphasizes that Johnson’s plans are thwarted, which makes him legally obliged to request a deferment, but he does so reluctantly. “No delay, Johnson swears.”
The Sunday Times looks at it from a different angle: “Boris enters into battle with brexit” wreckers. ” And he does that with his three “challenging” letters: combative language. And that is the trend of the entire article. For example, Johnson “opened a new front in its fight for the Brexit.” Other newspapers focus on the ministers in parliament, rather than on Johnson. For example, The Daily Mail simply headers “The house of fools” or the (Lower) house of fools, by way of summary.