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In the oldest liberal democracy in the World you can win elections with an unparalleled majority of votes and have the strong support of the MPs and party members. You can survive a series of really serious crises, image gaps and real social and economic problems – but the position of the Prime Minister is decided upon by the Inner Party, responsible only to Big Money and the Plutocracy.
Last minute coup
And that is not the end yet. Forced resignation of Boris Johnson has already been hailed in some commentaries as “a triumph of British democracy” and even “success of the parliamentary control”, despite the fact that a month ago the Prime Minister clearly won a no-confidence vote, with support of 59% of Tory MPs.
He was also widely popular among party members remembering who led the Conservative Party to Thatcher-like election triumph.
However, BoJo’s resignation was wanted by the frontbenchers, the party elites understanding perfectly well that they have to either play zero-one now, or the Prime Minister will prevail.
This threat was confirmed when the favourite of Tory sponsors, then the Chancellor Rishi Sunak was hit by the news about his wife’s £20 million tax avoidance. In April that affair effectively distracted the public from BoJo’s previous problems, and the entire black-PR campaign was evidently carried out with at least the Joy of No 10.
However, the war perspective was probably the key, as it is really difficult to recall the Prime Minister of the War Cabinet, and BoJo has already skillfully used the Ukrainian crisis to disarm the Partygate (Downing Street cheese & alcohol parties during the lockdown period).
So, this was the very last moment for an attack. That was decisive in the realities of the British Plutocracy and as we can see Johnson’s dismissal had nothing to do with the semblance of liberal democracy, more and more outdated. Let’s be honest, for the UK, Oligarchy is absolutely natural, … a traditional form of power, so there is no need to hide it anymore.
Long preparations
Candidates for Johnson’s successor have been prepared for months because that’s how long it has taken to grill the Prime Minister.
As we remember, attempts have been made to shoot him off by hunting down the former chief advisor (and now fierce enemy) Dominic Cummings, called the Father of BREXIT, and discussing the impact of the “work event” with cheese and wine by Downing Street employees on the spread of the Coronavirus.
Johnson, however, has endured so far, though many say that as a Zombie who has not noticed his own death. In fact, BoJo’s only chance was the war with Russia, and the growing UK military involvement in Ukraine, Baltic States and Poland indicated that Johnson was desperate to accomplish this scenario. His departure does not mean, however, that there will be no war.
Too early for Joy
War hawks have their favourites, which can also count on the votes of tough BREXITers. While the Foreign Secretary, Luz Truss already proved in the midst of a war crisis that she is certainly not the sharpest knife in a drawer, the hardliners still have the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace whose main achievement was to empty the canteen bar of the Scots Guards at a time when he was an officer of this formation.
Wallace has already ruled himself out, but still receives high support in the polls. Johnson’s main opponents, Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid were long considered favourites, but who enters the conclave as a papabile – leaves that as a cardinal, and backbenchers can remember who tried to overthrow their own Cabinet.
But if the new UK Prime Minister supposed to be a representative of minorities, so why not Nadhim Zahawi, Mr. Vaccine, who first received BoJo’s nomination for the new Chancellor and then shot the proponent in the back?
On the other hand, if the Tories would like to “Macronise” themselves (i.e. return to David Cameron’s style), then the ideal candidate of the centrist compromise and conservative coolness could be the highly promoted Penny Mordaunt, once a magician’s assistant, who has a skill valued not only in British politics.
Finally, to satisfy those who like when changes do not change anything, there are Jeremy Hunt or even Michael Gove. The latter is likely to be the last hope of the Spitting Image creators, who lose with BoJo their inexhaustible source of sketches and inspiration.
Return to the 1980s?
Inflation in the UK has already reached 9.1%, what is the worst result since Margaret Thatcher’s first years.
A wave of strikes is sweeping throughout the country, including railroad and transport workers, airport personnel, postmen, even call-centre advisors. While BREXIT supporters (especially farmers and fishermen) are disappointed in maintaining trade ties with European competitors, many service sectors suffer from restrictions that make economic immigration into lower-paid jobs practically impossible.
In addition, the Government of Scotland called for another independence referendum on the 19th October 2023, despite the disapproval already expressed by Johnson. With all these problems war still seems to be an attractive form of “escaping forward”.
Of course not for ordinary Britons, who in all polls state that their main problem is the rising cost of living, not theRussian threat.
In fact, when asked directly by the European Council on Foreign Relations pollster, more English, Scottish and Welsh responded that they would support peace now and at all costs, than a peace called “justify” by western governments and the Kiev junta (22% to 21% with as much as 32% hesitating and 26% without a clear opinion). The war BoJo had no time to start can be then too politically expensive for his heir.
Second Crimean War?
However, Westminster’s involvement in sustaining and expanding the conflict with Russia continues to grow.
In Warsaw, Vilnius and Kiev we can notice strong confusion now: will the Eastern Europeans, having declared themselves on the side of the new, British form of Europe organisation of Europe – stay now with their hands in the Queen’s potty, with worthless British guarantees? The commentators with faster reflexes, have already announced that Vladimir Putin must certainly be behind Johnson’s fall, because who else could?!
And only the most cautious ones point out that the dominant feature of the United Kingdom’s international strategies has always been their stability and consistency, which lasted despite Cabinet, parties and leadership changes, ignoring technical nuances and current small interests.
After all, the UK has neither permanent friends nor permanent enemies, because it has no friends at all, and the enemy is anyone who is assigned such a role by the Empire’s elite.
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Konrad Rękas is a renowned geopolitical analyst and a regular contributor to Global Research.
