AG百家乐在线官网

Analysis

Rudd's resignation is a devastating blow but don't expect Johnson to change his strategy

Boris Johnson expelled 21 rebel MPs and then lost two ministers from his cabinet in Brexit chaos.

Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary and Women's minister Amber Rudd leaves the Cabinet Office on Whitehall in London on September 2, 2019. - Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepared on September 2 for a showdown with MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit when Parliament returns on September 3. Johnson stoked controversy and protests August 31 across Britain after announcing August 28 he had instructed Queen Elizabeth II to suspend parliament in the final weeks before Brexit. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)        (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)
Image: Amber Rudd stepping down will be a huge blow to the prime minister
Why you can trust Sky News

This truly has been a horrendous week for Boris Johnson.

Amber Rudd's resignation, just 48 hours after Jo Johnson's, has dealt the prime minister another serious blow

The pro-EU work and pensions secretary survived the July cull of cabinet Remainers after she agreed to sign up to his 31 October Brexit - hopeful no doubt he would be able to secure a deal.

Amber Rudd and Boris Johnson
Image: Amber Rudd and Boris Johnson do not see eye to eye on no-deal

Amid the turmoil of the past week she kept her counsel, but it is now clear that the sacking of the 21 rebels was too much to bear and she would rather bow out. Politically and morally she couldn't stomach the One Nation wing of the party being eviscerated. And when it came to policy, she had lost faith that this prime minister was even trying to secure a deal with Brussels. Like his brother Jo, it was time to bow out.

Boris Johnson's plan was to prorogue parliament in order to block anti no-deal legislation and get Brexit across the line on 31 October or trigger an election to settle the matter before the deadline. This week he has failed to do either. Number 10 has become a gilded cage. He is backed into a corner but don't expect him to change his strategy at all. He is going to fight on. As one government source put it to me this weekend: Mr Johnson will under no circumstances ask for an extension. His one mission is to get the UK out of the EU, do or die, ‪on 31 October.

Government sources tell me that he will do whatever it takes to achieve that end, even if it means a fight in the Supreme Court over the law passed by parliament to demand a Brexit extension. He knows he must deliver on his Brexit promise or face cries of betrayal from Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.

So he is prepared to defy the law of the land, and completely blow up the Conservative Party to achieve these aims. He hopes those Brexiteers who might vote for him will see his commitment to the cause. He'll break the law, destroy his party, even lose his brother in order to deliver Brexit.

Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd (L), Britain's Business Secretary Greg Clark (C), Britain's Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor David Gauke arrive in Downing Street in London on March 14, 2019, ahead of a further Brexit vote. - British MPs will vote today on whether to ask the European Union for an extension to the March 29 Brexit deadline, with the whole process mired in chaos. (Photo by Niklas HALLE'N / AFP)        (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)
Image: Rudd's closest colleagues have been people like David Gauke and Greg Clark

The Conservatives are transforming into the party of Vote Leave. It is a scorched earth policy in which the traditions that have defined the party for decades are unravelling. The Tory party is moving from a broad church to becoming a narrow one. For decades the One Nation, pro-European wing has lived alongside the Eurosceptics but there is no accommodation any more.

It was this very coalition of political views that won David Cameron an outright majority in 2015 - the Tories first in 23 years. Now Mr Johnson and his team think they can win a majority on the back of Brexit votes. And that means the pro-Europeans are expendable. It is the end of the Tory party as we know it.

It has undoubtedly been a difficult week personally and politically for Mr Johnson but what will be of some comfort to him is that a YouGov poll out on Saturday night shows that he hasn't lost support from the public - the Tories are still polling 35% against Labour's 21%.

He has lost his brother, he is losing his party. His best hope now is that he can hold onto public support.