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We are about to enter the next phase of the Brexit saga. It is now more than 3 years since the referendum vote, and, with Boris Johnson on the threshold of Number 10, things are more unpredictable than ever. 1/
The new PM will be very different to the last. Theresa May had a keen sense of duty. She saw it as her responsibility both to deliver Brexit (as she defined it), and to protect the UK economy. 2/
Her faults are well known. She did not reach out or compromise until it was too late. She had precious little political imagination. She was, as many have said, and to the last, a PM unsuited to these times. See eg theguardian.com/politics/comme… 3/
Boris Johnson is very different. He has few principles and even less of a sense of responsibility. I very much doubt that this brilliant account by @fotoole will be bettered. nybooks.com/articles/2019/… 4/
He has made various promises to various wings of the Conservative Party, in order to win the leadership election. Many of those promises will be casually tossed aside. But... it is difficult to know which, and difficult to know why. 5/
Does he care about delivering Brexit 'do or die', about the UK's parliamentary democracy, about the Good Friday Agreement, about economic hardship? 6/
How will he respond to a) a failed renegotation with the (intransigent) EU; b) resignations from Govt and the Party; c) the threat of a VoNC? What impact does the Brexit Party have on his thinking? 7/
Is he serious about no deal? Might he become serious about proroguing Parliament? How strong is his commitment to the United Kingdom? 8/
We simply do not know. It may be that he himself also doesn't know. In the next few days, for better or worse, we will begin to find out what happens when Boris (finally) gets the chance to do Brexit. 9/9
