Johnson talks of Brexit regret as campaign heats up
Britain’s election campaign is heating up, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying he will apologise to Conservatives for failing to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union by October 31 and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage saying he won’t personally run for a seat in Parliament.
Johnson’s promise to have Britain leave the bloc by October 31 had been the central plank in the party leadership competition that brought him to power in July.
He told Sky News yesterday that it was a matter of “deep regret” that he failed to do so. Asked if he was sorry about missing the deadline, Johnson said: “Yes, absolutely.”
Johnson’s failure to deliver may cost him some backing from voters drawn to his fiery rhetoric on the need to finalise Brexit, including his famous statement that he would rather “die in a ditch” than seek another extension.
But his pledge to leave by October 31 with or without a divorce deal was blocked by Parliament, which required him to seek a Brexit delay. The EU has granted a three-month
Brexit extension until January 31.
Johnson pushed hard for an early national election on December 12 in which he hopes to get a more Brexit-friendly Parliament that will — finally — pass his proposed deal with the EU.
He also said yesterday that his Government wouldn’t approve another legally binding referendum of independence for Scotland.
The campaign won’t officially begin until after Parliament is dissolved tomorrow, and various party alliances are still being formed.
Farage, the leader of the Brexit Party, told the BBC that he can “serve the cause of Brexit” better by travelling throughout Britain to support 600 Brexit Party candidates rather than by seeking a seat for himself.
But the Brexit Party hasn’t yet named its candidates and it’s not clear what kind of impact it will have.
All 650 seats in the House of
Commons are up for grabs in the December 12 election. Johnson’s Conservatives have a lead in most opinion polls, but analysts say the election is unpredictable because Brexit cuts across traditional loyalties.
The Labour Party is trying to expand the campaign focus from Brexit to include domestic political issues such as schools, healthcare and Britain’s social inequities. The centrist Liberal Democrats want to cancel Brexit and are trying to woo pro-EU supporters from both the Conservatives and Labour in Britain’s big cities and liberal university towns.