Analyst:

Johnson could be ‘shortest-tenured’ prime minister in British history

A senior US-based analyst says that newly-appointed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson could end up being one of the “shortest-tenured” prime ministers in British history if he pushes Britain towards a no-deal Brexit on October 31.

News ID: 446244

Date: 31 July 2019 - 09:34

RNA - Boris Johnson rose to power last week as Britain’s prime minister with a pledge to lead the UK out of the European Union and unite a country deeply divided over Brexit. The former London mayer, who played a leading role in the pro-Brexit campaign in the 2016 referendum, seems adamant to deliver Brexit with or without an exit deal on October 31.

The scenario lying before Britain is that if Johnson goes for a no-deal Brexit, some British lawmakers are expected to stop him, possibly leading to the collapse of his government and if they try to thwart Brexit, a general election becomes more likely.

“In a sense, we have a non-elected prime minster with almost no mandate whatsoever from the country, with a parliament not behind him; that has shown consistently that he’s not prepared to clip the type of terms he is talking about. Why would the Europeans in any way listen to him? The European Union has every incentive to just stand firm and let Britain launch itself into a world economy that's looking a bit parlous on occasion,” Ian Williams, senior analyst with Foreign Policy in Focus from New York, said during an edition of The Debate on Press TV.

“We’ve got trade wars breaking out everywhere and Boris is a sort of original optimist. He thinks that it’s the best of all possible worlds and Britain can cut trade deals with people all over the place and undo 30 years of intricate negotiations with Europe. He can’t. So he is going to come unstuck, and that’s very likely to be a general election and he is possibly one of the shortest-lived prime ministers, shortest-tenured prime ministers in British history, and deservedly so, he will return to the obscurity he so richly deserves,” Williams added.

Shortly after Johnson won on July 24 the votes of more than 92,000 members of the UK’s ruling Conservative Party to replace Theresa May, the European Union warned him of “challenging times ahead” with his vow to renegotiate Brexit.

The 28-member bloc said it would not agree to revise the Brexit accord since it had been sealed after months of difficult negotiations between London and Brussels, stressing, “The United Kingdom reached an agreement with the European Union and the EU will stick to that agreement.”

The withdrawal accord was rejected three times by the British parliament and led to May’s resignation two months ago amid a political deadlock.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who draws a good level of support from pro-Brexit lawmakers and members in the ruling party, has said he intends to keep all constitutional options on the table so that he can force the EU to agree to Britain’s proposals for changing the terms of the current Brexit agreement.

The opposition Labour Party has also vowed they would do everything they can to block a no-deal Brexit. The party has warned it would not allow the ruling Conservatives to bring Britain out of the European Union without a deal, and said that the only way to resolve a current political standoff over Brexit was to allow people in Britain to have a say on the issue through a fresh vote.

According to a study by Cambridge Econometrics, Britain’s exit from the European Union could cost the UK almost 500,000 jobs and nearly $68 billion in investment by 2030.

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