Boris Johnson’s heavy Brexit defeat

AFTER A noisy and often raucous emergency Brexit debate, British MPs late on September 3rd inflicted a stunning defeat on Boris Johnson’s government. By the unexpectedly large majority of 27 votes, the House of Commons took control of the agenda for September 4th. That will allow the introduction of a bill to stop Britain leaving the European Union with no deal on October 31st. Instead the bill declares that, if the prime minister has not reached an accord with the EU by October 19th, he should ask for an extension of the Brexit deadline, initially to January 31st 2020.

Mr Johnson responded to his defeat with characteristic belligerence. He declared that he would propose an early election in October to decide who should represent Britain in negotiations in Brussels. He had earlier branded the bill “Jeremy Corbyn’s surrender bill”, berating the leader of the Labour opposition for siding with the EU. He threatened Conservative rebels with ejection from the party, though this did not stop as many as 21 of them defying him. Those who later had the Tory whip withdrawn include former cabinet ministers and even Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill, Mr Johnson’s idol.