MPs cannot be surprised by Brexit anger - Johnson's adviser

By Kate Holton

 

FILE PHOTO: Dominic Cummings, special adviser for Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, walks for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London, Britain September 10, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser has said British politicians should not be surprised by the mounting anger over Brexit and said the atmosphere will get ever more toxic unless the result of the referendum is delivered.

 

Parliament, locked in a three-year battle over how, if or when the country should leave the European Union, reached boiling point on Wednesday when Johnson and his opponents spent hours hurling allegations of betrayal and deceit across the chamber of the House of Commons.

 

Opposition MPs accused Johnson of stoking hatred and cast him as a cheating dictator. One called him a liar. Johnson dismissed death threats against female MPs as “humbug” and accused his opponents of “surrender” to European leaders.

 

Britain’s leading bishops said on Friday this behaviour must stop.

 

But Dominic Cummings, adviser to the prime minister and mastermind of the 2016 campaign to leave the EU, said MPs seeking to thwart Brexit should not be surprised by the reception they receive around the country.

 

“If you are a bunch of politicians and you say that we swear we are going to respect the result of a democratic vote and after you lose you say ‘we don’t want to respect that vote’. What do you expect will happen?” Cummings said at a book launch on Thursday night, reported by the Daily Telegraph.

 

“I find it very odd that these characters are complaining that people are unhappy about their behaviour now.”

 

Johnson, the public face of the Vote Leave campaign, has also said that tempers need to calm down and that resolving Brexit would “lance the boil”.

 

The Conservative Party elected him as leader in July on his promise to break the impasse and take Britain out of the bloc by Oct. 31.

 

But he has faced defeat at every turn, losing his parliamentary majority, every vote in the legislature, and a groundbreaking case in the Supreme Court over his decision to suspend the assembly.

 

Three years since Britons voted to leave the EU, the outcome remains mired in uncertainty with possible outcomes ranging from a departure with a new divorce deal, a no-deal exit, a second referendum, or no Brexit at all.

 

Cummings rejected a suggestion that the government would back a “soft Brexit” - one that keeps Britain more closely aligned to EU rules - in order to get a deal by Johnson’s October deadline.

 

Despite the uncertainty and turmoil, Cummings said they were not under any pressure and the situation was far less difficult than winning the 2016 referendum.

 

“This is a walk in the park compared to that. All the Vote Leave team, we are enjoying this, we are going to win, we are going to leave, don’t worry,” he said.

 

Cummings has been cast by allies as a ruthless strategist who cares little for the conventions of traditional British politics and by enemies as an anarchist.

 

He was found to be in contempt of parliament earlier this year for failing to appear before lawmakers investigating “fake news” and the referendum. He said he had offered to appear and give evidence.

 

Also on Friday, Church of England bishops called for respect on all sides of the Brexit argument, saying the language being used in the increasingly vitriolic debate was divisive and abusive.

 

“We should speak to others with respect. And we should also listen,” the bishops said. “In the last few days, the use of language, both in debates and outside Parliament, has been unacceptable.”

 

BREXIT OR ELECTION

 

Johnson challenged his opponents on Wednesday either to bring down the government or get out of the way to allow him to deliver Brexit, something he has vowed to do by Oct. 31 whether or not he has agreed a withdrawal deal with the European Union.

 

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said he and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier were doing all they could to get a Brexit deal, and if they failed it would be Britain’s fault.

 

With the clock ticking down, opposition parties have forced through a law that would order the prime minister to ask Brussels for a three-month Brexit delay unless he can strike a deal. Johnson has labelled the law a “Surrender Bill” and said he will never ask for an extension.

 

That has left critics hunting for any loophole the government could use to ignore the bill and take the country out of the bloc without a deal, something they fear would cause huge economic disruption.

 

Former prime minister John Major, who has condemned Johnson’s pugilistic approach to politics, warned on Thursday that the government may still try to use “political chicanery” to bypass the order for a delay.

 

David Gauke, a former justice minister who was pushed out of Johnson’s Conservative Party after he voted against it over Brexit, said he believed the new law was watertight.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-27

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Despite him being a shadowy media-shy figure he is probably right on this one. People are fed up and annoyed and MPs have no-one to blame other than themselves for all the bickering and paralysis.

He’s the political strategist behind the divisive lie ‘the people against Parliament’.

 

What he says is not news, it’s propaganda.

Troll post removed.

 

I read tonight Cummings was the ‘brains’ (chuckle chuckle), behind Goves decision to stab BoJo in the back. 

 

So not only is BoJo a useless strategist, officially the worst PM ever with a 100% fail rate to date (0/7), a catastrophically inept negotiator, and according to his own colleagues a clueless foreign secretary, he is clearly a terrible judge of character!!

 

We can leave unable to dress himself and the abandonment of children (known children) on file. 

 

This ladies and gentlemen is the leavers icon ????

Edited September 27, 20196 yr by Bruntoid

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

What he says is not news, it’s propaganda.

Only in your La La Land reality and it's in the minority opinion in the UK compared to the fantasy land you live in. Although, this post won't last long as it doesn't fit your narrative ... so will be deleted due to not conforming.

Edited September 27, 20196 yr by Sir Dude

When a, any, story-teller, even with outstanding credentials, would have had the crazy idea to present a scenario covering brexit from Cameron to Bojo &Co. to production houses, he would have been kicked out, refused further access, and have become the laughing stock of the entire trade!

...But, this is the reality, this is the United Kingdom, today!

Un-be-lie-va-ble!

What was ignored in due time to stop this lunacy before it was given(!) the opportunity to grow and unfold?

Who are the people, which are the organisations, responsible(!) of causing the ultimate demise of what was, still(!), left of the British Empire?

History won't be mild with them, but, now, as per today, who is going to stand up to stop the whole madness, ...and become public support to do it?! I have no idea.

12 minutes ago, Sir Dude said:

Only in your La La Land reality and it's in the minority opinion in the UK compared to the fantasy land you live in. Although, this post won't last long as it doesn't fit your narrative ... so will be deleted due to not conforming.

You are right- Cummings' views are definitely a minority opinion in the UK.  Thank goodness for that.  The sooner Boris and his whole nationalist cabal are kicked out the better for our country.

2 minutes ago, Slip said:

You are right- Cummings' views are definitely a minority opinion in the UK.  Thank goodness for that.  The sooner Boris and his whole nationalist cabal are kicked out the better for our country.

Your inference skills are poor.

 

All the fuss about proroguing for what ?

 

What have they achieved since Wednesday?

 

Just dragged the UK’s reputation through the mud again. The attorney general was correct. This parliament is dead and the swamp must be drained.

 

13 minutes ago, Slip said:

You are right- Cummings' views are definitely a minority opinion in the UK.  Thank goodness for that.  The sooner Boris and his whole nationalist cabal are kicked out the better for our country.

It’s a shame Corbyn doesn’t have the stones for a general election. Probably a good move though considering he’d get wiped out by the pro Brexit tories.

Just now, JonnyF said:

It’s a shame Corbyn doesn’t have the stones for a general election. Probably a good move though considering he’d get wiped out by the pro Brexit tories.

All johnson has to do is present a deal for parliament’s approval or an extension to the deadline for brexit and he can have his election. 

6 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

All the fuss about proroguing for what ?

 

What have they achieved since Wednesday?

 

Just dragged the UK’s reputation through the mud again. The attorney general was correct. This parliament is dead and the swamp must be drained.

 

Yes, more and more the trump playbook appears.

Mad cows disease strikes again.

And this time it is not cows.

I hope Europe will find an antidote to this Anglo Saxon disease.

3 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

Despite him being a shadowy media-shy figure he is probably right on this one. People are fed up and annoyed and MPs have no-one to blame other than themselves for all the bickering and paralysis.

They should've got behind May and delivered Brexit when they had the chance, but instead they chose to betray their prime minister for their own childish ambitions.

 

 

A post critical of grammar has been reported and removed.  

 

5 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Mad cows disease strikes again.

And this time it is not cows.

I hope Europe will find an antidote to this Anglo Saxon disease.

I seem to recall you very recently vehemently insisting that such generalised comments based on nationality were in fact racism?

1 hour ago, JAG said:

I seem to recall you very recently vehemently insisting that such generalised comments based on nationality were in fact racism?

Clearly more then half of the anglo saxons (UK and US) are NOT infected by mad cows disease, so I am certainly not generalising.

But indeed we Europeans have to be carefull that we do not import Trumpness and Bojoness.

Why aren,t the MPs carrying out the wishes of the people who voted them into their jobs. What a bunch of tossers !

30 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Why aren,t the MPs carrying out the wishes of the people who voted them into their jobs. What a bunch of tossers !

Because...... everyone wishes the same thing.... or you can’t accept some people wish differently to you?

8 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Because...... everyone wishes the same thing.... or you can’t accept some people wish differently to you?

Losers consent has been awol since 2016.

3 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Why aren,t the MPs carrying out the wishes of the people who voted them into their jobs. What a bunch of tossers !

Because some chose to betray their Prime Minister for their own personal ambition.

 

When the government had a majority, they negotiated with Europe to come up with a deal that delivered Brexit without, they hoped, crippling the economy, and regardless of whether that was where you or I wanted to end up, it was a step on the road.  Just as we did not leap in 1975 into the full paraphernalia of Europe that we  now enjoy, our Prime Minister charted the first step out of it.

 

But she was betrayed by a minority of back-benchers, who now find themselves burdened with the poisoned chalice that she had taken up.  And now, worse still, they've peed in it.  No wonder the country is finding it hard to stomach.

 

SC

 

That's a pretty good moral aphorism: Don't pee in someone else's poisoned chalice, lest you are forced to take it up yourself.

 

EDIT: Apparently you can't say "<deleted>" on the internet.  Not unleth you've got a lithp.  Thatth pith, that ith.

Edited September 28, 20196 yr by StreetCowboy

15 hours ago, Bruntoid said:

I read tonight Cummings was the ‘brains’ (chuckle chuckle), behind Goves decision to stab BoJo in the back. 

 

So not only is BoJo a useless strategist, officially the worst PM ever with a 100% fail rate to date (0/7), a catastrophically inept negotiator, and according to his own colleagues a clueless foreign secretary, he is clearly a terrible judge of character!!

 

We can leave unable to dress himself and the abandonment of children (known children) on file. 

 

This ladies and gentlemen is the leavers icon ????

What a load of puerile, biased rubbish. Boris is doing a good job under the most difficult of circumstances, none of which are of his own making.

14 hours ago, StreetCowboy said:

They should've got behind May and delivered Brexit when they had the chance, but instead they chose to betray their prime minister for their own childish ambitions.

 

 

You can't be serious. May's agreement was/is appalling.

15 hours ago, Bruntoid said:

I read tonight Cummings was the ‘brains’ (chuckle chuckle), behind Goves decision to stab BoJo in the back. 

 

So not only is BoJo a useless strategist, officially the worst PM ever with a 100% fail rate to date (0/7), a catastrophically inept negotiator, and according to his own colleagues a clueless foreign secretary, he is clearly a terrible judge of character!!

 

We can leave unable to dress himself and the abandonment of children (known children) on file. 

 

This ladies and gentlemen is the leavers icon ????

But is was a Cumming plan... ????

 

But looks like these door knockers will not be adorning No 10...

(Jennifer Arcuri)

 

They should've got behind May and delivered Brexit when they had the chance, but instead they chose to betray their prime minister for their own childish ambitions.
 
 

Without stating the bleedin obvious, Only remainers believe Mays WA was worthy of approval as it keeps the UK tied to the EU cartel.

It was thrice rejected for a reason, it's toilet paper that should remain in the Brown stuff.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

8 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Clearly more then half of the anglo saxons (UK and US) are NOT infected by mad cows disease, so I am certainly not generalising.

But indeed we Europeans have to be carefull that we do not import Trumpness and Bojoness.

No you have imported a religion that will take over and then you will wonder what went wrong.

 

Good luck with that one.

5 minutes ago, citybiker said:

Without stating the bleedin obvious, Only remainers believe Mays WA was worthy of approval as it keeps the UK tied to the EU cartel.

It was thrice rejected for a reason, it's toilet paper that should remain in the Brown stuff.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

It was the only deal that either of the EU and UK governments have agreed. I know Jacob Rees-Mogg has to leave quickly, and without a deal, to avoid scrutiny of his financial activities, but when an MP betrays his prime minister, his party and his government for his own personal financial interests, I’m not sure I would call his prime minister, the government or the majority of his elected party traitors.

2 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

What a load of puerile, biased rubbish. Boris is doing a good job under the most difficult of circumstances, none of which are of his own making.

Your sarcasm may be missed.

 

He betrayed Brexit, his prime minister,  his party and his government.

 

He peed in the poisoned chalice, and he can carry on until he’s drained it.