Maybe He Should Do What Boris Yeltsin Did

Purely a ceremonial office, like the Queen.

The UK is now in a constitutional crisis. It is hard to see how they can get out of it.

This bears out my observation that the problem with the Brexit process was never Theresa May. Dumping her did nothing. There are two problems here, both systemic.

First, there is simply no incentive for the EU to give Britain better terms for leaving the organization than they get by crashing out. No federation can reward a member for leaving. A no-deal Brexit is necessarily Britain’s best option, and the only factor limiting what the EU will demand. After leaving, the calculations change, and a deal may well be possible.

No better deal can come, and those who are refusing no deal to demand a better deal are delusional. Or this is only cover for forcing Britain to stay with the EU.

Unfortunately, the British parliament insists on ruling out no deal. Parliament has now repeatedly ruled out staying in the EU, ruled out the deal on offer, and ruled out leaving without a deal. There are no other options, except either electing a new parliament or mass suicide.

The next problem is that Britain cannot elect a new parliament. The Fixed Term Parliament Act of 2011 has stripped the executive, the cabinet, of necessary powers. Under the prior Westminster system, if nobody in a parliament could command a majority, the Queen, or really, the prime minister, would call an election. Now Boris Johnson cannot. This leaves Britain in the absurd situation of having no government, and no way to get one for the next four years. Only parliament itself can now call an election, and only by a two-thirds majority. Only, in short, if a super-majority of its members do not care to keep their jobs.

Just as it will permit neither leaving nor staying in the EU, this parliament will not support the cabinet, would not support the previous cabinet, will not support any other leadership currently available, and will not allow an election to break the deadlock.

The 2011 act was a remarkably dumb idea. Giving all power to the legislature makes responsibility too diffuse. Each member is free to act irresponsibly and in their own interest, avoid hard choices, and blame everyone else for the results.