Dictator Vibes? We Cannot Let Boris Johnson Suspend Parliament
Since the Conservatives were elected in 2010, our country has declined in many ways over the years. Now, thanks to Boris Johnson and his cronies, our politics has reached a new low. The arrogant and odious (and unelected) new prime minister has sabotaged our democracy by having Parliament suspended (known as ‘proroguing’) and we should all be worried about this dictatorial behaviour.
The government has asked the Queen to suspend Parliament next month so that MPs won’t have enough time to stop them from pushing through a no-deal Brexit on 31st October, and unfortunately, she has agreed. According to multiple sources, if the Queen didn’t agree it would’ve triggered a constitutional crisis – as if we’re not going through one already! Our country and its governance has many, many faults but we dropped autocratic rule in favour of democracy centuries ago. Over the last several years, we’ve seen a rise in right-wing politics in countries across the globe, and some of those countries are governed by autocratic systems (i.e. absolute monarchies, dictators.) The UK has never been governed by a dictator, nor will it ever be (at least not anytime soon anyway) especially not by someone so ridiculous as Boris the Bumbling Buffoon.
By suspending Parliament to force a no-deal Brexit, Johnson is throwing the middle finger up at our democracy, as well as the millions of Brits who will be hit hardest by a no-deal Brexit. Of course, this isn’t something new; it’s long been evident that Johnson and his clique don’t have even a smidgen of care for the less fortunate. These Tory Brexiters want a no-deal Brexit for their own selfish reasons, even though there’s a strong general consensus that it’ll be a disaster for our country. They – and their wealth – will be safe if a no-deal scenario was to actually materialise, so they don’t care about the millions who will suffer. James Wood, who went to Eton with Johnson, puts this in a nutshell perfectly:
‘...they belong to the same world. A world of extreme wealth where there has never been any decline for them. They are secure, as their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents were before them … Whatever happens in the next 30 or 40 years, post-Brexit, isn’t going to affect them. Privilege is like an unwritten constitution: you can never lose what you never have to find.’
This government has already spent almost a decade damaging and dividing the nation with their cruel austerity policies and the Brexit referendum, further widening the gulf between the rich and poor. Forcing through a no-deal Brexit will put much more strain on the millions of Brits who are on a low income, and Johnson knows this. The newest piece of evidence for this is the recently leaked Operation Yellowhammer report, which discloses what the government believes will be the consequences of a no-deal Brexit. Michael Gove (who is responsible for no-deal Brexit preparations) has tried to soften the blow of the alarming report by insisting that it covers a “worst case scenario,” but we know this is just another lie as the report mentions a “base scenario” rather than a “worst case” one, according to The Sunday Times.
Currently, a cross-party group of MPs backed by the Good Law Project have already begun taking action to block Johnson from shutting down Parliament. They have petitioned for the Court of Session in Scotland to declare that Johnson cannot lawfully suspend Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit. As of 30th August, a full hearing of their case has been fast-tracked to next Tuesday.
Most of us are sick and tired of being governed by unelected prime ministers and their handful of chums, who happily make selfish and disastrous decisions that they will never suffer the consequences of. We must stop Johnson from taking the country down the dangerous, murky path of a no-deal Brexit. The consequences of failing to do so will likely be catastrophic.