Boris Johnson gives up attempts to block Brexit delay bill

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday abandoned his efforts to block a law in the upper house of Parliament that would prevent the country from withdrawing from the European Union without a deal in place.

Members of Johnson’s Conservative Party in the House of Lords had initially prepared a slate of amendments to the legislation, which passed the House of Commons Wednesday, in the hopes of delaying a vote on it until Monday, when Parliament will be suspended. However, the party announced early Thursday that it was dropping its opposition, according to Reuters.

Richard Newby, an opposition member in the upper chamber, said the Conservative Party dropped its opposition after realizing it was “looking stupid.”

“There was a realization by those on the other side that this was more than usually stupid, and they were looking stupid, and we needed to find a way forward,” he told BBC Radio.

Remain is winning, just like the swamp here.

Patriots are being outflanked by a progressive-corporatist alliance. We can win the battle again one but not both together.

I understand that the Irish border is a thorny problem which makes a "clean" break problematic to say the least. My reference, however, was to the politics required of a PM.

To address Irish question: it seems to me that neither Ireland has an interest in a sealed border, in fact the commercial interaction between the two countries is thoroughly profound and almost impossible to untangle.

Therefore, I do not anticipate that either Ireland insists on such a border and would be perfectly happy with an open border. It is the EU that is really the problem because they fear that the Irish border if left open would become the proverbial hole in the dike. More cynically put, such a border would be not just an open wound but a cancer on the authority of the European Union.

I do not understand why some sort of arrangement cannot be mooted by the terms of which both goods and persons who are indigenous to either Ireland cannot be provided with special documents permitting ready crossing just as we have with Mexico. There is a human rights element to this. There is a need to avoid a revival of the troubles.

Brussels would face huge criticism if it were not amenable to such a modus vivendi.

“I think you could define it as either Brexit with a land border built through Ireland with hard stop checkpoints staffed by men with guns. Or, a Brexit where Ireland is left with no border and North Ireland is left outside the UK.”

A third option is something like our border with Mexico - a sieve. :)

“thought Macron said he would agree to an extension.”

Macron has no say in that. The governing body of the EU is in Brussels. Heads of State (such as France) don’t matter.

One of many reasons for Brexit in the first place.

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