United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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So now. In the end, Labor, the largest opposition party in the UK, could not escape pressure. On Tuesday morning, their boss Jeremy Corbyn signaled his willingness to agree to a quick new election in the brexit-tired kingdom. About ten hours later, it was clear: Shortly before Christmas, on December 12, around 47 million Britons eligible to vote will elect a new parliament. But whether it will be a nice gift for the parties to vote is far from being settled.
It required - as always in the past three and a half years - a tough battle in the lower house before the election date was finally determined. Three times, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously failed in his attempt to obtain a two-thirds majority for dissolving the shattered and fractious Parliament. He then grudgingly accepted the Brussels-imposed deferral of the EU withdrawal on Monday evening until January 31 at the latest.
Yara Nardi / Reuters
Satisfied expression: Premier Boris Johnson scored a victory in the lower house
Johnson also promised the Opposition that his controversial withdrawal agreement would be suspended until he was re-elected and, for the first time ever, pulled the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats to his side. Both want to stop Brexit and believe their voters are best mobilized as long as the opportunity persists. After this break, Labor had no choice but to jump on the red ball.
Somewhat confidently, Johnson's Conservative government then put a so-called one-line law in the House of Commons to a vote to fix the new election on December 12th. The advantage of such a law: It only needs a simple majority. The disadvantage: It can be changed and diluted by supplementary applications.
EU Council President Tusk activates via Twitter
And so the parties once again delivered a grueling battle of weariness this Tuesday. To increase their electoral chances, the Labor Party proposed lowering the voting age to 16 and giving voting rights to the three and a half million EU citizens in the country. Unsurprisingly, the government refused and threatened to withdraw the law if parliament voted in favor.
In the meantime, even EU Council President Donald Tusk felt compelled to call in from outside via Twitter: The British, who had a crush on debate, should not be fooled, as the Brexit postponement granted by Brussels "could be the last". The most sensitive amendments were then not even put to the vote.
In the end, the defeated government prevailed surprisingly effortlessly. This time, more than two-thirds of the lower house voted in favor of their proposal. And so Britain will now decide on December 12 on its fate.
Finally again election campaign in either / or Britain
Afterwards, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn seemed reasonably relieved that the battle for wear in the House of Commons was over for the time being. The head of government, who heads only a sham government, and the opposition leader, whom so many may not follow, will finally do what they do best in the coming weeks: travel the country, meet people, fight election.
The initial situation could not be more different for both. According to polls, Corbyn's Labor Party is up to 15 percentage points behind the Tories after internal strife. Their attitude to Brexit is at best ambivalent. In an election victory wants - to satisfy EU friends and skeptics in his own party equally - negotiate a new, soft agreement with Brussels and confirm by referendum.
However, because this position in either / or Britain is barely communicable, Corbyn's rallying slogan "Time for Real Change" will try to bring other pressing issues to the fore. First and foremost, the health, education and social system tattered by the Tories in ten years of austerity. In the 2017 election campaign, Corbyn had amazing success with this strategy.
Johnson is now pacting with Nigel Farage?
Johnson, on the other hand, will campaign with the message that only he will be able to lead the Brexit to any one end. In order to present himself as the only true man of the people, he is expected to settle mercilessly with all those who stood in the way of him and his mission: the parliament, the judges, the elites of the country. He will lie and cheat, believes his disgraced ex-party colleague Dominik Grieve: Johnson is a "populist demagogue who is unable to tell the truth."
Johnson's biggest weakness in this election campaign is that he failed to keep his big promise to "get what he wants" from the EU on October 31st. He will be held accountable by one who has never sat in the British Parliament, but who has been poisoning British politics for years like no one else: Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit party. Again, it could be him who sets the direction in which the country will march in the coming years. If he manages to portray Johnson as a "traitor" to the pure Brexit doctrine, he could end his dream of a long successful reign early.
Many in the conservative party have urged Johnson to sign an election pact with Farage. Only then could the Tories secure a majority and lift Brexit.
Johnson has ruled that out. Several times even. But everyone knows that does not have to mean anything to him.
Either way, the country is threatened with one of the most dirty and vile election campaigns in its history. Afterwards, the new parliament will start its work - on a Friday the 13th.