Thursday, June 13, 2019

The Guardian View on the Tories and No Deal: Choosing Rogue Government


THE GUARDIAN: With Boris Johnson as the frontrunner, Tory MPs are abandoning seriousness and responsibility as qualifications to be prime minister

All 10 candidates running in the race to be Conservative leader have sat around the cabinet table. Six are serving ministers. Naturally, none voted in parliament on Wednesday for an opposition motion designed to obstruct the path to a no-deal Brexit.

Even in the disturbed climate of British politics it would be bizarre if applicants to the job of party leader defied that party’s whip mid-contest. (Although Rory Stewart, the boldest and most pro-European of the contenders, briefly hinted that he might.) The motion was defeated by 11 votes, meaning that a chaotic Brexit remains the default setting on 31 October, if the next prime minister is unable to achieve what Theresa May failed to do – persuade a majority of MPs to endorse the negotiated EU withdrawal agreement. » | Editorial | Wednesday, June 12, 2019