Daily Express - 02.09.2019

12 Daily Express Monday, September 2, 2019

DX1ST

ROBUST: Mr Johnson shows no signs of being cowed by Remainers’ bid to take over Parliament

Stand firm and

this could be your

finest hour, Boris

One Canada Square, London E14 5AP

Tel: 020 8612 7000 (outside UK: +44 20 8612 7000)

EU chief’s stance makes

no-deal exit more likely

Stop the school bullies

A

T THE start of what will be a defining

week for our country, EU chief

negotiator Michel Barnier, has set the

tone – and it’s depressingly negative.

The EU won’t budge. It’s Mrs May’s

withdrawal agreement or nothing at all.

And yet both German chancellor Angela

Merkel and French president Emmanuel

Macron have told Prime Minister Boris

Johnson they are open to further

negotiations and will listen to suggestions

for avoiding the dreaded Irish backstop.

With intractable men like Barnier in

charge it makes us ever more keen to free

ourselves from the EU’s shackles. Which we

must do. And which we will do if Mr

Johnson is resolute and sees off those

whose real goal is to deny the British

people what they voted for in the

referendum three years ago.

How dare they talk about a lack of

democracy? How dare they accuse the

Prime Minister of taking matters into his

own hands, when all along the Remainers

have been plotting to thwart the will of

the people.

Yes, we want a deal but, thank goodness,

we now have a government led by someone

who accepts that no-deal is a distinct

possibility and that we must be prepared

for such an outcome between now and

October 31.

T

HIS week it’s back to school for millions

of children. A new academic year will

be daunting for some, exciting for

others – and that’s only natural.

What’s totally unacceptable is that many

children will also experience some form of

bullying, which will make their lives a

misery, not just during their school years

but possibly for ever.

The Diana Award charity – named after

the late Princess Diana – says that more

than half of young people have been

bullied at some point and that 40 per cent

are worried about returning to school

because of bullying.

Penny Lancaster, wife of rocker Sir Rod

Stewart, has spoken of her own horrific

experiences of being bullied as a child

and wants more to be done to make sure

that others aren’t subjected to the same

miserable fate.

We back the charity’s anti-bullying

campaign 100 per cent and know that our

readers feel the same way. Bullying in any

form has no part in a civilised society.

We salute you, Babs

E

VER since she was diagnosed with

Alzheimer’s, Dame Barbara Windsor has

spoken out about this terrible disease

and today she will deliver an open letter to

Downing Street signed by more than

100,000 people, urging the Government to

do more to help sufferers and their families.

We salute you, Babs, and are with you

every step of the way.

‘The PM knows that hard-headed

determination will win the day’

Leo McKinstry

Daily Express columnist

T

HE battle for Brexit is

approaching its climax.

Parliament holds the

destiny of our nation in

its hands this week. If

MPs choose to back the

Tory Government’s robust

policy on EU withdrawal, then

the referendum decision finally

will be implemented, enabling

Britain to embrace a new era of

independence.

But if MPs defeat Boris

Johnson, then our country will

be plunged into deepening cri-

sis and humiliation, made all

the worse by the chance that

Jeremy Corbyn could emerge

from the chaos to seize power.

The fight has been given a

fresh intensity by the Prime

Minister’s bold decision to sus-

pend Parliament for five weeks

from September 9, a move that

greatly restricts the Remainers’

room for manoeuvre in their

bid to thwart Brexit.

“No one is in any doubt. It is

this week or never,” said one

plotter.

The sudden rise in pressure

brought thousands to the streets

on Saturday to protest at the

prorogation. Marches were held

in no fewer than 32 towns,

while the centre of London was

reduced to gridlock.

These demonstrations were

accompanied by frenzied

language from a host of Left-

wing politicians and anti-Brexit

campaigners. Typical was the

hysterical outburst from the

Liberal Democrat MP Tom

Brake, who proclaimed that

Johnson’s “declaration of war

will be met with an iron fist”.

B

EYOND such tinpot

revolutionary agita-

tion, the anti-Brexi-

teers are stepping up their plots

at Westminster. They have

drawn up a plan to call an emer-

gency debate tomorrow, then

seize control of the order of

business in the Commons. They

would then pass legislation both

to block a no-deal departure

from the EU and to demand a

further extension of Article 50.

If these tactics fail, then they

will probably resort to a motion

of no confidence in the

Government. In their machina-

tions, they will be assisted not

only by up to 20 diehard Tory

rebels but also by the Speaker

John Bercow, who, from his hol-

iday in Turkey, melodramati-

cally called Johnson’s proroga-

tion “a constitutional outrage”.

Bercow’s mix of bellowing

self-importance and Remoaner

partisanship will be on full

display during this crucial week.

But victory for anti-Govern-

ment forces in Parliament

would be a disaster, a recipe for

more paralysis, more uncer-

tainty, and more self-indulgence

from the political class. After

three years of stalemate, the

British public are exasperated at

the failure of Westminster to

implement Brexit.

They are also fed up with the

huge hypocrisy of Remainers,

who blather about democracy

but seek to overturn the refer-

endum result, which was

reached after the greatest dem-

ocratic exercise in UK history.

The pro-EU brigade’s phoney

indignation about the constitu-

tion is just a cover for their

worship of Brussels’ power.

These anti-Brexit fanatics

trumpet the fact that 1.6 million

people have signed a petition

against prorogation but that total

pales beside the 17.4 million

who voted Leave.

Fortunately, Johnson shows

no signs of being cowed. On the

contrary, he has shown dyna-

mism, courage and innovation.

The defensive timidity that

characterised his predecessor’s

reign has been replaced by a

new spirit of resolution.

This is partly because the

Prime Minister knows that

hard-headed determination is

the best way to crack EU intran-

sigence and get a better deal. As

he put it yesterday, “the one

thing that could undermine the

UK’s ability to negotiate would

be Brussels thinking that there

is some chance the referendum

result could be cancelled and

that Brexit could be blocked”.

Indeed, there are signs that

Europe’s leaders, for all their

stubbornness in public, may be

willing to be more flexible.

A

ND that makes it all

the more imperative

that Johnson is not

undermined at home. Given the

high stakes, he is right to be as

tough as possible, reflected in

his threat to deselect rebellious

MPs who defy the Tory whip.

The same ruthlessness shines

through Downing Street’s will-

ingness to dismiss any aide

whose loyalty is doubted, as

happened at the weekend to

Chancellor Sajid Javid’s special

adviser Sonia Khan who was

suspected of Remainer links.

Despite all the froth in the

media and condemnation from

the Remain lobby, much of the

public seems to back Johnson’s

approach. An opinion poll yes-

terday put the Tories 11 points

ahead of Labour. Most voters

just want the Government to

get on with Brexit.

For the sake of national lib-

erty, he must win this week. The

Remoaner insurrection against

the people must not succeed.

Picture: STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA