Don’t, Boris with the Details

Boris Johnson assumed the role of UK Prime Minister with well under 150,000 people voting – only members of his Conservative Party. He is a Brexit hardliner, quite willing to let the UK leave the European Union, scheduled for October 31^st, without a deal. A particularly scary Halloween. Despite dire warnings of severe expected shortages, chaos at the Irish border and economic contraction from very neutral economic observers, even his own governmental bureaucrats. He has been repeatedly rebuffed by the EU in his efforts to push his soon-to-be-ex EU partners back to the negotiating table.

Efforts from leftist Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party to prevent a “no deal Brexit” have foundered, but Johnson – a Trump favorite – is taking no chances. The less time Parliament has to consider reduced terms than a pure break from the EU, the better, if Johnson has his way. There is a unique and somewhat obscure British constitutional construct that allows the Queen of England to suspend a Parliamentary session. So, guess what Mr. Johnson just orchestrated: “Three Conservative members of the Queen's Privy Council took the request to suspend Parliament to the monarch's Scottish residence in Balmoral on Wednesday morning [8/28] on behalf of the prime minister.

“It has now been approved, allowing the government to suspend Parliament no earlier than Monday 9 September and no later than Thursday 12 September, until Monday 14 October.” BBC.com, August 28^th. Johnson glowed as he announced that the Queen herself would address the nation in mid-October, suggesting that she was in full support of his agenda. The British pound sterling, which had traded at $1.66 as recently as 2013, well before the Brexit initiative, plunged to $1.22 at the announcement. Global markets, already on edge because of the global impact of Donald Trump’s trade war with China, felt the cold shudder of recession send chills down their collective back.

“The decision to [suspend Parliament] now is highly controversial because opponents say it would stop MPs being able to play their full democratic part in the Brexit process… Parliament is normally suspended - or prorogued - for a short period before a new session begins. It is done by the Queen, on the advice of the prime minister… Parliamentary sessions normally last a year, but the current one has been going on for more than two years - ever since the June 2017 election… When Parliament is prorogued, no debates and votes are held - and most laws that haven't completed their passage through Parliament die a death…

“‘As far as the markets are concerned, there's a fair bit of bad news already baked in to the pound,’ according to David Cheetham, an analyst at currency trader XTB Online Trading…. Discussing the prime minister's decision to suspend parliament, Mr Cheetham said: ‘This seems like a pre-emptive strike from [Mr Johnson] against those seeking to block a no-deal Brexit and once more it seems that the opposition are in danger of fluffing a big opportunity to have an impact.

“‘If the government is successful in this, then a no-deal Brexit wouldn't be taken off the table until the 11th hour at the earliest and this keeps a significant downside risk to the pound in play.’…

“Boris Johnson said a Queen's Speech would take place after the suspension, on 14 October, to outline his ‘very exciting agenda’... But it means MPs are unlikely to have time to pass laws to stop a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.” BBC.com. Could Labour force a “no confidence” vote, forcing a parliamentary election, potentially bringing down the Conservative majority? Technically, yes, but time is rapidly running out. Pundits are suggesting that, at least between now and October 31^st, that choice is not likely. “Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said MPs must come together to stop the plan next week, or ‘today will go down in history as a dark one indeed for UK democracy’.” BBC.com.

Self-proclaimed economic expert, Donald Trump – the same man who had led the United States into a consumer-unfriendly trade war with China and created the greatest peacetime deficit in our history with his failed-to-generate-benefits-except-to-the-rich tax cut – tweeted in support of Boris Johnson’s efforts saying it "would be very hard" for Mr Corbyn to seek a no-confidence vote against the PM, "especially in light of the fact that Boris is exactly what the UK has been looking for." Really? 150 thousand voters, maybe, but the entire UK? The world needs Donald Trump to define global economic policies in his own image almost as much as it needs a new outbreak of the bubonic plague.

            I’m Peter Dekom, and when arrogant leaders, unschooled in global economics, take charge, the results of such arrogance are seldom what their followers expect will happen.