Scotland: UK PM Johnson reportedly brands powers for Scotland a ‘disaster’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has inflamed Scottish discontent with his Conservative government by reportedly saying giving governing powers to Scotland had been a “disaster”.

British media reported Johnson made the remarks during a video meeting with Conservative Party legislators on Monday evening, in which he also said Scottish devolution had been former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s “biggest mistake"

Read more at: UK PM Johnson reportedly brands powers for Scotland a ‘disaster’ | United Kingdom | Al Jazeera

Britain in the twilight zone: How a dangerous belief in British exceptionalism led the UK to ruin - by By Martin Fletcher

If Boris Johnson’s various announcements last week – his pledge to save Winston Churchill’s statue from a non-existent threat, his creation of yet another review of racial inequality as a substitute for action, his involuntary U-turn on free school meals courtesy of the football player Marcus Rashford, his widely criticised merger of the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development (Dfid) – I found one particularly nauseating: his plan to spend £900,000 painting the RAF plane that the prime minister and royal family use for official business red, white and blue.

It was not just the colossal waste of money at a time of economic crisis, or the utter irrelevance of the plan in the midst of a uniquely severe national health emergency. It was the tawdry jingoism, the faux-patriotism, the cynical use of the flag to exploit the people’s belief in “British exceptionalism”. 
 

It was that belief which Johnson and his fellow right-wing populists exploited to win the 2016 EU referendum. Freed of Brussels’ oppressive bureaucracy, our once-proud country would regain its greatness, they argued. Liberated from the EU’s stifling regulations we could “unleash the full potential of this brilliant country”, Johnson declared. 

 
Read more at: 
How a dangerous belief in British exceptionalism led the UK to ruin

US Presidential Elections: Six Lessons for US Democrats they should use from Boris Johnson’s December victory in Britain

Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party won the British general election on December 12, 2019 in a landslide and won their largest number of seats since 1983 while Labor received the lowest number of seats since 1935.

Since the next “big” election to be held will be held in the United States, in just over 10 months from now. What can U.S. Democrats learn from the 2019 victory by Boris Johnson, so that they can prevent Donald Trump’s reelection in November 2020?

And to be quite clear. So far the Democrats have run a dismal campaign, very much like the labor party did in Britain's elections.

Here are 6  suggestions from the Boris Johnson Playbook

Lesson 1:  Focus on a top class experienced, seasoned candidate who is appealing to most people 
Lesson 2: Stop complaining about the distortions of the voting system. It won’t change!
Lesson 3: Yes, liars win elections
Lesson 4: The top candidate matters above all - no confusing messages
Lesson 5: Simple messages win
Lesson 6: Don’t overrate leaders’ morals

Beyond getting their own party’s base to turn up to vote, the Democratic nominee must appeal to a sufficient number of Independents. That is no small task.

So far, no candidate seems to be able to be ideologically exciting and politically sober at the same time to accomplish this task.

Perhaps, this is Mission Impossible for the Democrats - unless, a knight on a white horse comes riding out into the open who is able to defeat the "evil one".

EU-Digest 

EU-Britain: Brexit Deal in Brussels, but British Parliament has the last say, and that is not sure at all

Britain and the European Union on Thursday agreed on the draft text of a Brexit deal, setting up a fateful showdown in the British Parliament on Saturday, where it was not clear that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could marshal the votes to nail down his plan after three anguished and politically damaging years of debate.

But Mr. Johnson may already be thinking beyond whether Parliament approves his plan. Even if he loses, analysts say, he may call for a general election, hoping voters will rally behind him and deliver him a strong majority.

EU-Digest

Britain - Boris Johnson Outfoxed: For Boris Johnson, Another Bad Day and Another Big Defeat in Parliament - by Stephen Castle

British lawmakers, capping what may be one of the most abysmal starts any British leader has ever endured, on Monday rejected Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s bid to hold a new national election.

For Britain’s bare-knuckled new prime minister, it was a day of defeat. Parliament’s rejection of a snap election came as a new law went into effect on Monday blocking Mr. Johnson from pursuing a “no deal” withdrawal from the European Union.

Parliament is now suspended until mid-October, the result of earlier political maneuvering by the prime minister. But by Monday’s end, it seemed clear that if Mr. Johnson had thought he could outfox Parliament by suspending it, sidelining lawmakers at a critical moment in the Brexit debate, he was the one who had been outmaneuvered.

Read more at: For Boris Johnson, Another Bad Day and Another Big Defeat in Parliament - The New York Times

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