Boris Johnson vs. Parliament on Brexit
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2019
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After more than two years of debates and one deadline extension, the United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union on October 31st. Last week, with no Brexit deal in sight, Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved to suspend Parliament for five weeks leading up to that deadline. The move outraged members of Parliament and spurred a revolt in Johnson’s own party, resulting in legislation that may prohibit him from executing a no-deal Brexit. Johnson has called for a general election, though he no longer has the legislative majority he needs to force a vote. Sam Knight joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss the week in Parliament and what it might mean for the future of British democracy.
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| 0:48.3 | This is the political scene, a weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and guests about politics. |
| 0:54.8 | It's Friday, September 6th. |
| 0:56.9 | I'm Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of The New Yorker. |
| 1:00.7 | This week, the Prime Minister and the House of Commons engaged in one of the most vicious |
| 1:05.8 | political battles in British history. |
| 1:08.7 | The revolt began after Boris Johnson, who has been in office for only six weeks, |
| 1:14.0 | received the Queen's approval to suspend Parliament between September 11th and October 14th. |
| 1:20.6 | That gave MPs virtually no time to pass legislation that could stop the United Kingdom from |
| 1:27.1 | leaving the European Union without a deal on October 31st. |
| 1:31.5 | 21 members of Johnson's Conservative Party, dubbed the Rebel Alliance, were prominently among those who fought back. |
| 1:40.1 | They passed a bill that would block a no-deal exit from the EU and denied Johnson's call for a general election. |
| 1:47.7 | Johnson banned them all from the party and threatened to call an election in October. |
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