Boris Johnson’s crisis reveals a deeper problem

The vote allows Johnson to remain Prime Minister, however his authority in Westminster is profoundly dented and many commentators are now describing him as a “lame duck” – in other words, a politician whose authority is broken because his days are numbered.

The national conversation is focussed on the impact of the vote on Johnson’s political agenda, as well as on Johnson as a person—-his lack of honesty, decency, humility and shame, which mean that he would never resign in the interest of his country or his party but is expected to cling to office, even without much public and political support.

But on a deeper level, the outcome reveals a profound dysfunctionality of the entire British political system, which could be described as an even bigger problem than Johnson’s premiership.

It is clear to any independent observer that the Prime Minister no longer has the trust of Parliament (given that the opposition MPs and those Tory MPs who voted against Johnson represent an absolute majority in the House of Commons).

In any other European democracy, a Prime Minister in such a position would be voted out by Parliament. In the UK the situation is rather different. In the absence of a written constitution it is not clearly specified how Parliament can get rid of the Prime Minister to form a new government, nor is there a clearly specified constitutional power for the unelected monarch to appoint someone of her choosing.

In fact, Boris Johnson’s government recently reintroduced legislation to restore the government’s power to call an early election at a time of its choosing. This reform, together with other laws passed by the Johnson administration which are designed to undermine key democratic rights, marked a drastic presidentialist turn, which gives the government prerogatives which do not have a counterpart in any other European parliamentary democracy.

It’s fair to say that the combination of an unelected monarchical head of state, an increasingly unaccountable government and an electoral system designed to allow minorities to rule is unfit to govern a multinational, multiparty system.

It is therefore not surprising that so many commentators across the political spectrum are denouncing the authoritarian drift that is permeating Boris Johnson’s government agenda.

In many ways we are witnessing the political meltdown of his premiership.

And in some ways we are witnessing yet another development of the profound crisis of the British political system. A crisis that started with the Iraq war and saw the erosion of trust in democratic institutions, which was the real precursor of Brexit. And then of course the erosion of legitimacy of parliamentary democracy that was brought about in the name of Brexit.

It’s a crisis that runs deep, goes to the very foundation of Westminster and will not be solved by getting rid of Johnson.

Scotland on the other hand has its own government and parliamentary democracy. Thanks to this, it is not part of the UK constitutional crisis, nor does it want to take part in it, with just 2 Scottish MPs out of 59 expressing their confidence in the Johnson administration. And if you are not part of the problem, you can be part of the solution, helping bringing about a much needed reckoning.

This is also why many prominent English intellectuals support our campaign and Scotland’s right to choose its own future post Brexit, as demanded by its citizens. This is why democracy must prevail and the European Union must do its part to support Scotland’s democratic choice, as demanded by our open letter.

Boris Johnson might continue to govern a dysfunctional regime. But if democracy prevails in Scotland, we can be hopeful also for our friends in England. We will do our best to offer as much European solidarity and support as we can in order to help Scots in their efforts to make this happen.

Speaking of which: we would like you to save two dates!

On June 13th, Anthony Barnett will give an intriguing speech on why Scottish Independence will spell the end of Brexit in an event organised by our friends at the Yes for EU campaign. You can register at this link.

And on June 23rd, on the anniversary of the Brexit referendum, we will celebrate Scotland’s ties with Europe in a live virtual event with Lesley Riddoch and several of our ambassadors from all over Europe, where we will also present our plans for the new year. We hope to see many of you then — more about the event soon!

In European friendship

Nina and Andrea for the EfS team