A surrealistic day in the life of Boris Johnson | Ot …

Boris Johnson sent a letter to the European Union requesting an extension of the block's departure date, October 31st. The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, confirmed in a tweet that "the extension request has just arrived and that I will now start the consultation process with the EU leaders".

One day when the absurdities of the climax surrounded the Brexit, it appeared that three different letters were being sent to the EU. One is a photocopy of Johnson's unsigned extension request, another comes from the British ambassador to the European bloc and a third explains why the government does not want the extension requested. It is clear that Boris Johnson fell like a kick after the defeat suffered in the morning during Saturday's unusual parliamentary session, the first since the Falklands War. The House of Commons had to debate and vote on the agreement that Johnson had concluded Thursday with the EU for the British exit of the bloc on October 31. It could not be. The amendment to the Benn law, promoted by conservative dissident Bernard Letwin, was a priority in the vote and settled any possibility of debate on the agreement with the EU. The amendment, which had the support of all the opposition and a large number of Conservative MPs, aimed to close a deadly legal loophole in the Benn law: an agreement with the law enforcement agency. EU can enter into force only if the draft law is adopted before departure from the European Union. As parliamentary time is running out by 31 October and the most recalcitrant Eurosceptics could use different parliamentary maneuvers to delay the debate, the danger was to reach 31 with bare hands and the UK to automatically leave. EU without agreement That is to say a Hard Brexit (complete separation of the EU) desired by the most difficult sectors.

Among the millions of people who were demonstrating in front of the parliament and its environs to ask for a new referendum on the British exit from the European Union, the news of the vote produced scenes of excitement. The possibility of a new popular consultation remains skinny, but the amendment has dispelled the most feared hell: a Brexit without agreement.

What is happening now with letters? The EU had made it clear during the afternoon that it was willing to grant the extension for which unanimity of the 27 members was needed. The block will meet this Sunday to analyze this incredible puzzle of three cards, one without signature and the second which denies the content of the first. Will you always be inclined to grant an extension in such chaos?

All that opens another equally enigmatic question. In which legal situation is the Prime Minister? Does the law require Boris Johnson to request the extension in the absence of agreement: has he fulfilled his obligation by asking for it in a letter not bearing his signature? The precise content of the letters will give a more accurate clue, especially if it is confirmed that the second letter, which denies the first, bears the signature of the Prime Minister. Is it a contempt of Parliament? A violation of the law? Is it worth a letter that does not bear the signature of its issuer?

In this epistolary novel, the only known content to be complete is that of a fourth letter sent this Saturday afternoon to his group of deputies, in which he confesses that he will write to the European Union to tell him that "extension of the date of departure is not necessary.

On the political front, it is clear that Boris Johnson is seeking to mitigate the impact of a further expansion. At the end of July, Johnson replaced Theresa May as Prime Minister with an uncompromising message: leave the EU at any cost ("make or die"). With this message, he was trying to win the majority of his party in the Brexit, but also those who had left the ship to join the extremist ranks of the party of Nigel Farage Brexit, believing that Theresa May and David Cameron, before her, were very warm with Europe.

How is the film? In parliament, after the vote, the House of Commons Conservative leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, dubbed "Honorable Member of the 18th Century" for his eccentric aristocratic style, said Monday that Johnson's deal with the EU Thursday, October 17th. Is it possible if the House has just voted differently with the Letwin amendment? It is obvious that the adherence to the law of this catholic, fervent pro-Brexit of the 18th century, does not seem much larger than that of Johnson. In any case, in the realm of Brexit, everything seems possible.

Will the UK still be in the EU on 1 November? Nobody knows it. What is quite clear is that in the current state of affairs, there will be early elections before Christmas to determine whether the new government has a clear mandate to decide what kind of relationship the UK has. wants to talk with his neighbor and his main trading partner.