Contributed by Joe Montero

The United kingdom could be heading into as political crisis deeper than any it has seen for a long time, after prime minister Boris Johnson moved to suspend parliament and avoid opposition to his handling of Brexit.

Although the suspension is only for a month, it is more important than this would suggest. It is happening at an important political juncture, and sets a precedent in modern history, which will weaken the stability of British political institutions

Johnson is facing the prospect of rebellion form even within his own Conservative Party.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbin wrote a letter to the Queen, requesting a meeting “as a matter of urgency.” The reason given, is that Johnson must be stopped from suspending parliament. The Brexit deadline is 30 October. The Queen’s quick reply has been to support Johnson’s plan.

There will be an attempt made during a brief sitting next week to introduce legislation that will make Boris Johnson’s move for suspension illegal.

Facing the prospect of internal rebellion, the prime minister has threatened rebels with an early election in November. This is a major gamble. The government is unpopular and would be hard pressed to win. But it may be enough to pull nervous critics into line and prevent them from voting for next week’s bill.

The prime minister is facing criticism from the first minister of the Welsh Assembly, who is recalling the body to discuss the “constitutional crisis which now faces Wales and the United Kingdom.” Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson is resigning. British members of the European parliament across the political spectrum have come together to criticise the move, and British group leader Guy Verhofstadt tweeted that it is a “sinister” move.

Even the speaker of the House,  John Bercow, who said it is “blindingly obvious that the purpose of the prorogation now would be to stop parliament debating Brexit.”

The Scottish parliament is in recess for now. But expect some fire to come from this quarter. Scotland is strongly pro European Union. The same applies to Northern Ireland.

Protest rallied are being organised. Opponents are labeling this as a coup. Some are even calling for an occupation of parliament. The backlash is growing.

Nationwide protests as Boris Johnson suspends parliament

Video by The Guardian

And it’s because Brexit has been badly mismanaged all round and caused a stalemate with the European Union. The deal that had been worked out before collapsed with Theresa May’s failure. Boris Johnson then came onto the stage, promising that he would make Brexit happen this year. The consequence is now becoming a reality.

A no deal Brexit is now on the cards. It will cost the United Kingdom economically, and this is beginning to sink into British society.

Business is affected. There is that part facing the loss of a market it depends on, without even the chance of a transition period, and there is that part that wants to focus international economic relations with the United States instead of Europe. The former is against Brexit, and the latter for it. It is major source of division among the Conservatives.

Markets have reacted sharply. Share prices have dropped.

It doesn’t stop here. Those on a wage or social security find that they are going backwards. They were promised that Brexit would change this. Instead of relief, the prospect is going backwards even further.

When Europe already offers a big market and being a European citizen offers jobs on  the Continent, and when the standards for social security, wages and working conditions, health and education provision are significantly higher than the equivalents in the United States, Brexit to orbit and integrate with the United States makes little sense. This integration will bring downward pressure on all fronts.

A no deal Brexit will make the shift more certain.

This state of affairs has come about because the British have been betrayed by a political elite, which has manipulated the political system, to meet the sectional interests of their backers and those of the people they claim to represent.

Brexit is the real crisis and the effort to push it through is what is challenging every notion of democracy. It has laid out in the open just how fragile the parliamentary system is. It can be taken away at a whim. It goes to show that the decisive political power exists out of it.

Money and connections talk. An elite makes the real decisions and the tricks of marketers are used to make the population believe that they are the ones who make the decisions. The deception is wearing a lot thinner now.