The neoconservative revolution has to begun, and has to fail

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Now we know what ‘Taking back control' really means. Boris Johnson has announced this morning that he plans that parliament should be prorogued from early September to mid-October to prevent MPs having the chance to block and illegal No Deal Brexit.

There are a number of obvious thoughts that follow.

First, no one since Charles I has, as far as I can recall, tried such a move. It did not end well then.

Second, there will be a legal challenge.

Third, hopefully there will be parliamentary challenge and he will, as a result, I hope be prevented from doing this.

Fourth, I am hoping there will be mass opposition.

Fifth, I rather hope that the EU will respond by deferring the date of departure. This move challenges its whole ethos, which is built on the principle of parliamentary democracy, which is being suspended in this case.

Sixth, I hope this backfires badly for him: whilst I suspect the diehard No Dealers will applaud surely those more marginal will see that an argument that can only be won by denying the right of parliament is an argument not worth winning.

Seventh, I sincerely hope business speaks out: they cannot want this either.

But standing back from all that there is something more significant than all of those issues in isolation. What we are witnessing is an evolving constitutional crisis that amounts to be neoconservative revolution. 

Let's not pretend that there is anything normal about this. There is not. 

And let's not pretend that anymore should therefore accept this, including the Queen, whose duty it is to reject what Johnson says or to cease to have a constitutional role. 

Countries succumb to non-parliamentary rule in all sorts of ways. It would appear that this is the British way. It has to be tackled head on. I repeat, this is not a crisis: this is a revolution. And a very ugly one. 


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