# Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries to lead the UK but has resigned on July 7, 2022 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 30, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872 "2019-07-30T14:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/622 "2019-09-30T18:30:52Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Even as interim PM of a unity government, to request an extension and call a general election? I was originally responding to a post saying that a Labour government after an election was the only way to avoid Brexit, and Corbyn is, in my opinion, not going to do that. As for a Unity government, the question is whether he’s trusted to actually give up power when he gets it. He’s shown repeatedly that he’s untrustworthy in Parliament, having voted against his party a huge amount of times. Why trust this power-hungry Brexiteer any more than the current one? What is needed, if and when Brexit is avoided, is for the Labour party to collapse along with the Tories, leaving the extremists nominally running the parties whilst moderates and centrists get on with actually running the country. I’m not particularly hopeful it will happen, but if the Lib Dems actually manage a decent showing at an election it’s at least possible. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/623 "2019-09-30T23:29:47Z")
Three totally unrelated questions, just thinking out loud; 1. Can Churchill’s grave be gotten at easily? 2. Can some brits get hold of some shovels and stuff? 3. Does anyone know a good necromancer? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/624 "2019-09-30T23:59:03Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m not understanding what you are having trouble with. > > There were enough remain and dissenting tories plus labour plus Lib dem plus others to hold the balance in a vote of no confidence and to install a unity government. > > However, those numbers only stood a chance of coalescing if the head of that unity governement was someone other than Corbyn. If he _insists_ on leading that governement then the numbers _aren’t_ there. > > Considering that the only point of that temporary government would be to gain an extension and a new GE, having a more neutral figure at the helm makes perfect sense. Doing so seems costs him nothing other than his ego or perhaps there are reasons as yet unclear to me. I didn’t see any serious contenders put forward. They were mostly jokes (Gary Lineker) or people who wouldn’t want that poisoned chalice (Clarke). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/625 "2019-10-01T00:21:58Z")
Katie Hopkins, on the Boris Johnson sexual harassment allegations: "If Boris had squeezed my upper thigh 20 years ago I still wouldn’t have showered. Better to be grabbed by the pussy than have a pussy as Prime Minister " [https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/1178589278311522304](https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/1178589278311522304) ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/626 "2019-10-01T01:12:44Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I didn’t see any serious contenders put forward. They were mostly jokes (Gary Lineker) or people who wouldn’t want that poisoned chalice (Clarke). Both Ken Clarke and Harriet Harman were willing to do it. Not sure how that would affect Harman becoming Speaker, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/627 "2019-10-01T02:10:07Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Not at all. Don’t mistake a negotiating position for the final position. > > And don’t forget about all the expelled Tories, the Independent group, and Plaid Cymru, who also don’t want Corbyn as PM if it can possibly be avoided. The SNP have already said they are okay with it. > > When it comes to the crunch, they will all act together and avoid no-deal whatever it takes. But it hasn’t come to the crunch yet, so they still talking and bargaining. They still have a week or two to see how things play out. Keeping no deal on the table will be as good a negotiating lever for Swinson with Labour as it was for Johnson with the EU. Swinson might also threaten to back Johnson’s deal when it emerges. As Steophan observes, that might not be much of a lever with Corbyn either. Particularly given her own party’s Brexit policy. ---
**Author:** ![Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/628 "2019-10-01T02:42:50Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > The numbers were there and the only sticking point was Corbyn. > > Make of that what you will Thank you for clarifying this remark. Now that I understand it, I think it is of minor significance. The MPs for whom Corbyn is the only sticking point have no influence or negotiating power. In a few days, they will have to choose between supporting Corbyn in a general election after supporting his policy in an interim government, or backing no deal. Given that all these people have staked their political careers and reputations on opposing no deal by any means necessary, it is going to be odd for them not to support Corbyn. Some small fraction of them will prefer to support Johnson’s renegotiated withdrawal agreement. There is media comment that such a deal is more likely to emerge than previously, but it still seems (very?) unlikely. I suppose some of them might just be waiting for a miracle. That following an extension to the A50 period either Corbyn or Johnson loses their position, opening up other alternatives? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/629 "2019-10-01T03:13:09Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Katie Hopkins, on the Boris Johnson sexual harassment allegations: > "If Boris had squeezed my upper thigh 20 years ago I still wouldn’t have showered. > > Better to be grabbed by the pussy than have a pussy as Prime Minister " > [https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/1178589278311522304](https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/1178589278311522304) 1. Not sure if Katie Hopkins has **ever** showered. 2. Even Boris has standards. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/630 "2019-10-01T04:06:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Three totally unrelated questions, just thinking out loud; > > 1. Can Churchill’s grave be gotten at easily? > > 2. Can some brits get hold of some shovels and stuff? > > 3. Does anyone know a good necromancer? Let the poor guy rest in peace. What a terrible thing it would be to show him what the Conservative Party has become. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/631 "2019-10-01T07:39:45Z")
Plus, AIUI, Churchill’s postwar idea of a united Europe didn’t include the UK, which (as he saw it) belonged at the top table with the USA and USSR. Of course, he might well have changed his views by the time of our first application to join in the early 60s - especially since de Gaulle was agin it. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/632 "2019-10-01T08:13:20Z")
Oh yes he did… [https://europa.eu/european-union/sites/europaeu/files/docs/body/winston\_churchill\_en.pdf](https://europa.eu/european-union/sites/europaeu/files/docs/body/winston_churchill_en.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/633 "2019-10-01T11:50:45Z")
> [@Sandwich](#): > > The MPs for whom Corbyn is the only sticking point have no influence or negotiating power. In a few days, they will have to choose between supporting Corbyn in a general election after supporting his policy in an interim government, or backing no deal. No, they will have the option of joining the Lib Dems, the SNP, the other small parties and the independents in supporting a neutral interim government, in the unlikely event anyone actually gets their shit together enough in the enxt few days to do anything about Johnson. Once again, Corbyn is pushing for Brexit - do you really not get that? Supporting him is support for Brexit, and it should by now be clear to everybody that any Brexit will be a no-deal one, as there is no possibility of a deal that satisfies everyone. Hell, there’s pretty much no chance of a deal that satisfies _anyone_. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/634 "2019-10-01T11:55:16Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > Oh yes he did… > > [https://europa.eu/european-union/sites/europaeu/files/docs/body/winston\_churchill\_en.pdf](https://europa.eu/european-union/sites/europaeu/files/docs/body/winston_churchill_en.pdf) Nowhere in that does Churchill state what part the UK should play in it, on the other hand he did say… > [@](#): > > “We are with Europe, but not of it,” … “We are linked but not comprised.” But then there has always been a lot of misunderstanding and half-truths regarding the formation of the European Union ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/635 "2019-10-01T12:18:00Z")
I think, by implication, he meant the UK should ‘play the part’ of a Member of the Union. > [@](#): > > With this plea for a United States of Europe, Churchill was one of the first to advocate European integration to prevent the atrocities of two world wars from ever happening again, calling for the creation of a Council of Europe as a first step. In 1948, in The Hague, 800 delegates from all European countries met, with Churchill as honorary president, at a grand Congress of Europe.This led to the creation of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949, the first meeting of which was attended by Churchill himself. His call to action can be seen as propelling further integration as later agreed upon during the Messina Conference in 1955, which led to the Treaty of Rome two years later. It was also Churchill who would first moot the idea of a ‘European army’ designed to protect the continent and provide European diplomacy with some muscle. Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights was created in 1959 — a decade after Churchill first championed the idea. Providing the inspiration to the people of Europe as the binding factor in the allied fight against Nazism and fascism, Winston Churchill consequently became a driving force behind European integration and an active fighter for its cause. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/636 "2019-10-01T12:24:40Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I’m guessing that he wasn’t named “Johnson”. Where did the Johnson come from? If he was named Johnson- is that unusual? You mean _Yayhaoglu_? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/637 "2019-10-01T13:54:22Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Plus, AIUI, Churchill’s postwar idea of a united Europe didn’t include the UK, which (as he saw it) belonged at the top table with the USA and USSR. Of course, he might well have changed his views by the time of our first application to join in the early 60s - especially since de Gaulle was agin it. He may or may not have been in favor of the EU being created in the first place, but as a student of history, Churchill would have known that the if there was one thing the UK has been opposed to for the past 500 years, it was having the Continent united against it - which is exactly what the Brexiters are leading to. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/638 "2019-10-01T14:16:04Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > He may or may not have been in favor of the EU being created in the first place, but as a student of history, Churchill would have known that the if there was one thing the UK has been opposed to for the past 500 years, it was having the Continent united against it - which is exactly what the Brexiters are leading to. As Sir Humphrey explained [so well](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVYqB0uTKlE&feature=youtu.be&t=1m52s). ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/639 "2019-10-01T14:35:24Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Corbyn wants to leave the EU. Try to keep up! In July 2019 Corbyn reversed his position on Brexit, coming out in full support of calling a second referendum on the issue of the UK leaving the EU and saying Labour will back remain if the Conservatives initiated a second referendum. > [@Steophan](#): > > That makes him unacceptable as Prime Minister. What **does** make someone unacceptable as Prime Minister? How about: - as a journalist, telling lies about the EU (Chris Patten later stated that, at that time, Johnson was “one of the greatest exponents of fake journalism”) - being a bigot (in one column he used the words “piccannies” and “watermelon smiles” when referring to Africans) and allowing Spectator columnist Taki Theodoracopulos to publish racist and antisemitic language in the magazine he edited - being an adulterer and lying about it, resulting in his sacking from government office - having an affair with yet another woman (fathering her child) - during the referendum campaign, lying about 80 million Turkish immigrants and £350 million weekly to the NHS - blundering as Foreign Secretary - breaching the Ministerial Code over £50,000 earnings - being censured by the Press Standards Association for lying - acting illegally over proroguing Parliament - described by the Economist magazine as “the politician who has done most to let down his party and country” and “the most irresponsible politician the country has seen for many years.” - on a staged political visit to a hospital, telling a protestor that ‘there are no Press here’: in the film (taken by the TV press, you can hear the clicking of Press photographers) Why yes, it’s **Boris Johnson** who has done all this… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/640 "2019-10-01T14:54:12Z")
[Boris Johnson: UK will submit concrete Brexit proposals soon](https://apnews.com/9fa99b5ed0b6495498c9b306f341352f)! > [@](#): > > British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Tuesday that Britain will make firm proposals for a new divorce deal with the European Union within days, saying “this is the moment when the rubber hits the road.” Prolly a good thing considering that the UK leaving the EU without a deal is coming soon too. > [@](#): > > Johnson said details would be disclosed “very soon.” The U.K. plans to send them to Brussels within days after the governing Conservative Party conference ends Wednesday in Manchester, northwest England. > > Johnson says Britain will leave the EU on the scheduled Oct. 31 date with or without a deal. There is no plan. There’s not gonna be a plan. Oh maybe they’ll submit a “plan” that’s just one typed page that says “fuck off EU”, but there’s not gonna be any real plan. Other than the plan for a small group of people to make a shitload of money off other people’s suffering over the next decade or so, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/641 "2019-10-01T14:57:15Z")
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