If you want to say the most amazing thing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last year, it must be – “If Brexit is postponed, I would rather die in the ditch.”
Later, Britain really postponed Brexit for three months. This flag is always standing up, which is quite embarrassing literally.
As early as before and after the 2016 referendum, a group of British politicians boasted to the public that Brexit was “one of the easiest agreements in human history” and that Brexit would not have any shortcomings. As a result, these words have been frequently made into posters and pulled out of the streets for public display over the past few years.
In fact, from the tossing of Brexit in 2016, the two Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom alone have set different flags at different times. Looking back, does those harsh words work? Has it been cashed?
Seeing that Britain’s Brexit transition period expires at the end of this month, and no agreement has been reached on future relations with the EU, the United Kingdom will not let go, threatening that if it cannot be negotiated, a no-deal Brexit is the “most likely” result. Will it just talk about it again this time?
At this time, I made a review of what the British Prime Ministers said in the past four years and had a new experience.
Phase 1: Theresa May is complacent
Brexit is Brexit, and we need to successfully achieve it.
— Theresa May, July 11, 2016
This is what Theresa May said two days before she succeeded Cameron as British Prime Minister. However, the flag did not stand up throughout her short prime minister career.
She is not a Brexit party. She voted for “Remain in the EU” in a referendum, but history requires her to become a prime minister implementing Brexit. In order to take on this role, she took a tough stance towards the EU before the negotiations began–
For Britain, “even if there is no deal to leave the EU, it is better than to hold a bad deal”.
——Theresa May, January 2017
This operation was summarized as “the art of no agreement” by the later The Economist.
The article believes that if a transaction cannot be done under normal circumstances, the worst is to maintain the status quo. But there is really no way to maintain the status quo for Britain without a deal, just like “being in the air and still considering not buying a parachute”. It is obvious that Britain is more afraid of no agreement than the European Union, but it is going to blackmail it. The so-called no-deal Brexit has been thunderous and rainy since the beginning, which is more like a negotiation skill.
Phase 2: Theresa May “My plan is the best” vs Johnson “My plan is better”
When Theresa May reached the final version of the agreement with the European Union during her term, she said harshly to Britain, “This is the best agreement and the only agreement we can negotiate.”
However, there is one person who is quite unsentful, Boris Johnson, who resigned as Foreign Secretary. As early as September 2018, after resigning, he opened a column in a British newspaper and put forward his own “Brexit” plan to compete with the official plan at that time. He said, “My plan can better achieve Brexit.”
The article written in the “out” was criticized for standing and talking without backache. So when he became prime minister himself, did he really come up with a better plan than Theresa May?
His later plan was actually an improvement based on Theresa May. The twists and turns are very complicated to explain. In short, his plan did make it recognized by both the European Union and the United Kingdom, becoming the plan for Britain to formally leave the European Union. May’s plan was rejected three times by Parliament three times, which also opened the door to Theresa May’s resignation and Johnson’s bid for prime minister.
So looking back, May claims that her plan is “the best”, which is really not. Johnson’s plan is indeed “better”, at least it passed.
Phase 3: Johnson in 2019, set off a wave of promises
Johnson, the favorite of the Brexits at the referendum and has been showing his firm Brexit image since then, finally waited for his opportunity. Before and after Teresa May’s resignation, he, as the number one contender for the new prime minister, began a period of crazy flag standing.
June 5: “If we can’t complete Brexit on October 31, we will not be forgiven. Either leave the European Union or the party will be destroyed.
June 25: “We are ready to leave on October 31st, either Brexit or die!”
2 September: “It is impossible to ask Brussels for a delay, and it must leave the European Union on October 31. No if! No but!”
September 5: “If I want to postpone Brexit, I would rather die in the ditch!”
At that time, just hanging up the Prime Minister’s new flag could support the sky on the British hot search page.
Until October 19, only 11 days before the original official Brexit date, Johnson’s party (the ruling party) official social media account was still stubborn: “The Prime Minister will not postpone!”
However, he was not cruel enough to beat the British Parliament. On the evening of October 22, just eight days before the Brexit deadline, the direct vote of Parliament blocked the final possibility of Brexit on October 31.
Even if he swore to “die in the ditch”, Johnson failed to fulfill his promise of Brexit on time.
So why didn’t he encounter a sea of crowds later? Because he made a strange move, he sent two letters to the European Union, the first of which said that the United Kingdom applied for an extension.
But the letter did not use paper with the government logo, and he did not sign himself. As Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he had to apply to the European Union for an extension, which was required by law.
And he sent a second letter to the EU, saying that the extension was a mistake and hoped that the EU would not agree. And he said that the first letter was not sent by him, but should have been sent by the British Parliament.
Such a coquettish operation blocked the leisurely mouth of preparing to mock him, and set up the villains of the British Parliament firmly. The Prime Minister is going to leave the European Union when he dies. It’s the legmakers who pull their legs. So Johnson dissolved Parliament and launched a general election that Britain had never held in winter in a hundred years. He won by a large margin, won a majority of seats, and reorganized the government. The new government cabinet is composed of almost all Brexit hardcore people.
So Johnson set up a wave of weird flags. It didn’t actually happen, it was all ruined, but it broke the deadlock that Theresa May could not break – switching to enough of her own people in Parliament and the government.
The fourth phase : in 2020, it is difficult to say harsh words.
The United Kingdom successfully left the European Union on January 31, 2020.
Even if he didn’t keep his promise, Johnson was in the spotlight. In his speech at the beginning of the year, the momentum can be seen.
We are on a great voyage, and no one in the world thinks that there will be countries that have the courage to achieve it, but we are brave, and we truly take on our mission…
— Boris Johnson, end of January to February 2020
Unexpectedly, an epidemic in 2020 will turn the whole situation around.
In the anti-epidemic scenario, the Johnson administration lost its spirit to lead Brexit, and the anti-epidemic was criticized as too weak and loose. The UK is about to enter a third wave of “lockdown”, which is one of the deadliest countries in Europe due to the novel coronavirus. The decline in government support has led to the Brexit negotiations becoming less determined.
From last year’s “never postponement”, “prefer to die in the ditch”, to the present “we are still willing to talk”, “European Union friends show sincerity”. Johnson’s tone changed.
We have done a lot to the difficult gap. It is the turn of friends in the EU to see the reality and show sincerity.
— Boris Johnson, December 18, 2020
Brexit has cheated four British Prime Ministers. Margaret Thatcher in 1990, Major in 1997, Cameron in 2016 and Theresa May in 2019 have all failed on this issue.
In the British political environment, politicians set up various flags to deal with political opponents, to build momentum to guide public opinion, or to be forced by the environment.
Which of them is just a temporary talk. Maybe we haven’t done it and secretly went back to find compensation, and what is really “words, deeds and deeds must be achieved”.
For the long-term plan of the national economy and people’s livelihood, we still need to see more and consider more. You have to listen not only to what you say, but also to watch what you do.
