Brexit Vote Crashes. . . Again

As Liberty told you last week, the EU and UK rolled out a deal for Brexit. This was a pretty huge moment for obvious reasons, but also because the deadline for Brexit is at the end of this month, so it’s kind of either this deal or no deal.

Except that’s just not true, is it?

Evidently not, because Parliament voted to delay Brexit AGAIN in response to Bojo’s deal.

The rare Saturday session of Parliament – dubbed “Super Saturday” – was surrounded with both drama and a cloud of unknowns ahead of the vote expected late in the day, and comes just days after Johnson had secured a new withdrawal agreement with European leaders during the week, ahead of Britain’s scheduled departure from the bloc at the end of the month.

Lawmakers on both sides of the issue had warned of the danger of leaving without a deal, and Johnson had hailed the agreement as one that would satisfy hardline Brexiteers while making sure that the U.K. did not crash out of the bloc. It would have also allowed the U.K. to leave at Oct. 31.

Johnson is required to send a letter to the E.U. tonight requesting another delay under a law called the Benn Act. If his deal would have passed it would have nullified the Benn Act. But on Saturday, Johnson issued a defiant warning that he would not seek a delay — although he did not say specifically he would not send the letter.

As of Sunday (today), however, Bojo did, in fact send that letter– but with some very clear caveats. BBC reports,

Boris Johnson has sent a request to the EU for a delay to Brexit – but without his signature.

The request was accompanied by a second letter, signed by Mr Johnson, saying he believes a delay would be a mistake.

After reading his soul twin President Trump’s letter to Erdogan, I have to assume Bojo’s second letter just read, “PSYCH.” I’d love for them to become pen pals just so we can read an anthology of their correspondence years down the road.

Anyway, now the main concern is whether Johnson has attempted to circumvent the law by sending additional correspondence after the legally required request for an extension. Personal opinions about the man aside, I think it’s a hilariously ingenious workaround to a law he doesn’t like or agree with, because I don’t think a case against this action would hold up in court. He sent the letter he was required to send. As far as I can tell, there’s no stipulation that he can’t send other letters, too.

If anyone’s surprised by this turn of events, they shouldn’t be. Ever since they outlawed a no-deal Brexit, Bremainers basically guaranteed that Brexit won’t happen. Their strategy seems to be to continue voting against Brexit deals until they’re able to get a majority in Parliament and call a second “jk never mind” referendum– and it might be closer than you think. The Tories and Northern Irish DUP have lost the majority after Phillip Lee defected to the Liberal Democrats, and the DUP can hardly be counted on as allies, especially after stating that they unequivocally reject Bojo’s deal.

To put it succinctly, any hopes that this Brexit nightmare would soon be over is a pipe dream. It’s never actually going to end. Ever.