Boris pulls it off! Brits OK Brexit, reject EU, hard-left socialism

Yes, folks, another step on the road to the status quo ante, and another defeat for the liberal, progressive one-worlders. In yesterday's "Brexit election", the British Conservative Party, led by Boris Johnson -- Britain's version of Donald Trump -- won a commanding majority of seats in the UK Parliament.

Mr Johnson now has a clear and strong mandate to fulfill his plan to take Once-great Britain out of the European Union next month. In other words, he will, as promised, "get Brexit done!" Speaking to his supporters last night, the Prime Minister said, and I quote, "We pulled it off!" In his speech last night he said he would work "flat out" and lead a "people's government". Gotta love that expression of populism!

With just one constituency (St Ives, in Cornwall) left to declare, the Conservatives have 364 MPs, Labour 203, the Scottish National Party 48, Liberal Democrats 11 and the Democratic Unionist Party (Ulster Protestant baskets) 8.

Labour was swept aside by the Conservatives in its traditional heartlands in the Midlands and north-eastern England, and lost six seats in Wales. The increase for the Scottish Nationalists is interesting, as they have promised to push a referendum on Scottish independence. Mr Johnson has suggested he might allow that, keeping in mind what happened in Canada when the Québécois were given a chance to opt out of confederation, and decided they'd rather keep their Canadian passports and Canadian dollars.

In a result which I found very satisfactory, Nigel Dodds, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party at Westminster, lost his Belfast North seat to Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein has 7 MPs, Plaid Cymru (the Welsh nationalist party) 4, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (= Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre -- a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland) 2. The Green Party and Alliance Party have one each. Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, which triumphed in the summer's European Parliament elections, failed to win any Westminster seats.

Jeremy Corbyn, the neo-Marxist leader of the Labour Party, did not resign, but said he would not fight another election as Labour leader. Britain's commentariat, along with many in his own party, lay the blame for last night's defeat squarely at Mr Corbyn's feet. He steered the party hard aport (= to the left, landlubbers!), and was accused of tolerating, if not abetting the wave of anti-Semitism which has splashed Britain in recent months. Strange for a party covertly funded by George Soros, but the cliché -- politics makes strange bedfellows -- is true enough.

All in all, a very satisfactory result. Walt congratulates Mr Johnson, and suggests that American Dumbocrats take note. The Prez was not wrong when he said recently (see "Featured Post") that the majority of Americans will not support a party which espouses extreme socialism. Let's see if any of the Democratic presidential wannabes are paying attention.

Further reading, including a comment on the sudden resignation of Canadian "Conservative" "leader" Andrew Scheer: "Boffo Boris", by our old friend Mark Steyn, 12/12/19.

Wot? Brexit ain't done yet? Walt explicates the muddification

The story so far... Way back in June 2016, the people of the so-called United Kingdom got a rare chance to vote on an issue, as opposed to for or against a political party. After years of dithering, the Conservative government of the day, led by the Rt. Hon. David Cameron, called a referendum on whether or not the country should remain in the European Union. This was the result.

Instead of "country", let's say countries. London, the capital region (and (((international banking))) centre) voted to stay in the EU. So did Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The rest of England and Wales voted to take back control of Britain's affairs (particularly her borders) from the globalist Euro-weenies. Since there were more non-London English voters than all the others combined, the overall result was nearly 52% in favour of what became known as Brexit.

The first lesson the British people learned -- should have known already -- is that the people don't actually rule or govern anything. The ruling is done by governments, not the people wot put them there. So it fell to the government of Theresa May (who succeeded Mr Cameron, who had unwisely campaigned on the "remain" side) to make a deal with the other 27 (or so) members of the EU to put the borders back in place and disentangle the great ball of red tape devised by the Brussels sprouts.

A coalition of one-worlders, loony lefties and minor parties clamoured for a do-over of the referendum, and generally obstructed Ms May's efforts, so she called a snap general election in June 2017. It resulted in a Conservative minority government supported by the Ulster Protestant baskets who call themselves the Democratic Unionist Party.

Subsequent UK–EU withdrawal negotiations resulted in a withdrawal agreement in November 2018, but the UK parliament voted against ratifying it three (count `em, three) times. The Labour Party wanted any agreement to maintain a customs union, while many Conservatives opposed the agreement's financial settlement on the UK's share of EU financial obligations, as well as the "Irish backstop" designed to prevent border controls between Ulster and the Republic of Ireland.

Ed. here. I don't understand that last bit. You mean the Protestant Ulstermen refuse to be part of Catholic Ireland, but they don't want a hard border between the two parts of the island? Exactly.

In March 2019, the UK parliament voted for May to ask the EU to delay Brexit until October 31st, so a better deal could be sought. Having failed to pass her agreement, Ms May resigned as prime minister in July and was succeeded by the Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson. He sought to replace parts of the agreement and vowed to leave the EU by the new deadline, with or without an agreement. On October 17th, his government and the EU agreed on a revised withdrawal plan, with provisions for a special status for Northern Ireland. The British parliament approved the new agreement, but rejected plans to pass it into law before the Hallowe'en deadline, and forcing Mr Johnson's government to ask for a third Brexit delay, to 31 January 2019.

So everything's fine now, right? Ed. Errr, no. Having suffered a couple of defections along the way, Mr Johnson heads a minority government, dependent on the support of the DUP. With no guarantee that the enabling legislation will be passed by March 31st... or ever... Mr Johnson wanted an election to put an end to the uncertainty, one way or the other. The head of the Labour Party, Jeremy Lenin [Corby, shurely. Ed.] refused, but on Tuesday did a flip-flop and directed his members to join the Tories in approving an early election to break the deadlock. Brits will go to the polls on December 12th. Merry Christmas! [Happy Holidays!, shurely. Ed.]

Brexit has turned into a tussle for the soul of the country, and will be the main issue on which weary voters will have to decide. Mr Johnson's Conservatives tout his deal with the EU and claim they can get Brexit done at last, while Comrade Corbyn's Labourites are promising to negotiate a "softer" Brexit, following which they will give the British public the final say by... wait for it... holding a second referendum!

Will this vote break the Brexit deadlock? Who knows? [Certainly not you! Ed.] The rise of smaller parties means the possibility of a hung parliament is greater now than in previous decades. If the December election fails to deliver a party with an overall majority, Brexit could go in a number of different directions. A hung parliament with a minority Conservative government would likely mean more of the same paralysis that has dogged British politics for the past year. If Labour emerges as the largest party, that makes a second Brexit referendum more likely, given that's also the ambition of the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party.

And even if the Conservatives won a majority on the back of their promise to "get Brexit done," the saga won't be over. Mr Johnson would be able to get his deal through Parliament by the next deadline, but that's only the start. Months of negotiations with the EU about a future trading partnership would certainly follow, and the risk of a no-deal Brexit could return all over again if a trade deal isn't concluded by the end of the Brexit transition period in 2020. So while this vote will likely set a new Brexit course for Britain, it would be naive to think the issue will be off the agenda by the beginning of 2020. We wish all our British readers a Happy New Year!

British election too close to call?

I can work up but little interest -- and less excitement -- about the UK general election. Polling day is less than 24 hours off. I won't be voting, don't even know how to bet.

Theresa Maybe (as The Economist dubbed her) called the snap election after only two years in power, hoping to run a bare majority in the House of Commons up to awesome numbers. The thinking (?) behind doing so appears to have been that the UKIP had effectively disbanded itself after the Brexit referendum, and the Labour Party had all but committed suicide by choosing a leader -- Jeremy Corbyn -- from the loony left. [But he's on the right in the picture! LOL Ed.] The Liberal Democrats, the party of the mushy middle, look like being reduced to only a handful of seats, and the Green Party have yet to elect a member of parliament.

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, Mrs May looked to have the winning strategy. The polls had her Conservative Party well ahead, with most of the betting being on the spread. Then came the Manchester massacre. Then, just last weekend, the London Bridge terrorist attacks. As if those things weren't enough to shake one's faith in Mrs May's leadership, she flip-flopped on a pledge to end the cap on social care bills. The Reds [Labour, surely! Ed.] and even some of her own supporters said the financial impact on seniors -- very determined voters, that lot -- amounted to a "dementia tax". As for fighting back against Islamic terrorism, Mrs May is having trouble living down massive cuts to the police budget when she was Home Secretary, and her party's failure to cut immigration to under 100,000 per year, as they had promised.

So here we are, less than 24 hours out, and a projected Tory win by over 20% has dwindled to 6% or less, depending on which poll (if any) you believe. It's possible (but not probable) that Labour may win, making Mr Corbyn Prime Minister. That would really shake things up. Mr Corbyn appeals to the naïve young people who, in America, supported Bunny Sanders. But Mr Corby is way way to the left of Mr Sanders. He is an avowed Marxist, who, under previous leaders, defied the Labour whip 428 times. Among other things, he opposed anti-terrorist legislation (!) and the invasion of Iraq. His inner circle is even more hard-line. His shadow chancellor (= minister of finance) is an admirer not only of Marx but also of Lenin and Trotsky.

For many reasons, British politics has become almost as polarized (and polarizing) as that of the Excited States of America. Realistically, the choice for voters is between the right (Conservatives) and the hard left (Labour). There is no more "moderate centre". That means the real losers of tomorrow's election will be the "progressives" and liberals, and for that, much thanks.

Question from Ed.: Are you going to call this or not?
Answer from Walt: Not. Lifetime pct .988.