Fṛm ɖ Gardịn: Brexit was Johnson and Johnson was Brexit. Now that he has gone, Britain must think again

Boris Johnson in front of the Vote Leave bus, bearing the claim that leaving the EU would mean £350m extra a week to spend on the NHS. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Boris Jonsn in frunt v ɖ Vot Līv bus, bẹrñ ɖ clem ɖt līvñ ɖ YY wd mīn £350m xtra a wīc t spend on ɖ NHS. Foṭgraf: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Brexit wz Jonsn, n Jonsn wz Brexit. Nǎ ɖt h hz gn, Britn mst ʈnc agn

Transcription of a Guardian article of 15 June 2023

Ɖ dsgrest formr PM n ǎr dzastṛs xit fṛm ɖ YY wr umbilicli linct. Hiz fōl preznts a preśs oṗtyṇti

Martin Kettle

Martin Cetl, Ʈrzde, 15 Jūn 2023

It z īzi t oṿlc ɖ fact ɖt smʈñ larjr z at stec amd ɖ Cnsrṿtiv parti’z midsumr mêhem. Smʈñ larjr, fr śr, ɖn Boris Jonsn’z petyḷns or Nedīn Doriz’ atnśnsīcñ. Smʈñ afctñ s ol, nt jst ɖ Tori parti. Smʈñ ɖt unḍlîz evriʈñ els abt cuṛnt Britiś poḷtics n wl ǎtlast ɖ cuṛnt xîtmnt. Ɖt smʈñ z ɖ fyćr v Brexit.

Yes, Jonsn’z lêtist slf-sntrd lord-v-misrūl meḷdrama z rmarcbl īvn bî hiz ǒn standdz. Yes, Doriz’ lêtist c’rirmuv, gwñ postl in parḷmnt, on ɖ run fṛm hr ǒn reẓgneśn, z pṛvîdñ a sūṭbli dstrbñ coda t an olrdi dōntñli dstrbñ p’liticl c’rir. N, yes, Riśi Sūnac’s l’borịsli cnstructd oʈoṛti az prîm̦inistr z agn undr ʈret fṛm ɖ intmpṛt dsloylti ɖt hz bcm ɖ dfōltsetñ v a sx́n v ɖ Tori parti.

So, yes, mć v ɖs panṭmîm z indd abt Jonsn’z desṗreśn t rmen at ɖ sntr v ɖ stej – az ɖoz smrcñ ǎtñz wɖ hiz dog ć mornñ fr ɖ camraz cnfrm. Sm v ɖt me riyli b abt trayñ t mnūvr himslf bac intu parḷmnt in a sefr sīt at ɖ jenṛl ilex́n, ɖo hiz straṭji hz clirli nt bn ʈt ʈru.

Ol v it olso rezz xistnśl qsćnz fr ɖ Cnsrṿtivz, a parti ɖt wz fr so loñ ɖ inṭnaśnl paṛdîm fr pragmatic adapteśn in ɖ cōz v ilectṛl s’xes, īvn in ɖ ira v Marġrit Ʈaćr. Ɖ qsćn “Ẃt dz ɖ Cnsrṿtiv parti nǎ stand fr?” z hardr t ansr ɖz dez. Ɖ Tori parti Jenga tǎr smtmz fīlz jst a bric awe fṛm c’laps.

Nvɖles, bhnd ol v ɖs standz Brexit itslf. Ɖs crîsis, in uɖr wrdz, gz bynd ɖ śort-trm probḷmz v ɖ Sūnac guvnmnt n ɖ strugl ovr ɖ Tori parti’z îdntti. Ɖ linc btwn ɖ ivnts v ɖ past wīc n Britn’z brec wɖ Yṛp z umbilicl, bcz ɖ cord ɖt bîndz ɖm z Jonsn himslf.

Part v ɖs, bt nt ol v it, z abt ɖ lîz ɖt wr integṛl t bʈ Brexit n Jonsn’z fōl. Lîz abt pandemic locdǎn partiz pśt Jonsn fṛm guvnmnt n nǎ fṛm ɖ Comnz. Bt lîz abt Brexit wr olso ɖ rīzn ẃ h got intu Nu 10 in ɖ frst ples. Hiz p’liticl baniśmnt n hymilieśn fr wn set v lîz òt t cōl intu qsćn hiz rlịr p’liticl coṛneśn fr a difṛnt set.

It wz evr ɖus wɖ Jonsn. Hiz dparćr z nt a têl v an isnṣ́li dīsnt n truʈtelñ man hu ruind it ol bî layñ. Jonsn’z cntmt fr truʈ n rūlz z lîfloñ. Hiz hǎsmastr at Ītn, Martin Hamnd, feṃsli nêld ɖ probḷm mni decedz ago ẃn h rout: “I ʈnc h oṇstli b’livz ɖt it z ćrliś v s nt t rgard him az an xpśn, wn hu śd b fri v ɖ netwrc v obḷgeśn ẃć bîndz evriwn els.” Telñ ɖ truʈ matrz t y n m. It dz nt matr t Jonsn.

Riśi Sūnac n Cir Starmr claś ovr Boris Jonsn’z onrzlist at PMQz

Jonsn’z conduct in ɖ pandemic n sins rsivñ ɖ draft v ɖ priṿlijzcmiti rport z fŭli in lîn wɖ ɖt Ītn rport. Eni uɖr prîm̦inistr wd hv bn scrūpyḷsli cerfl nt t brec ɖ rūlz ɖt hiz ǒn guvnmnt hd impozd. Mni wd hv ŕd on ɖ sîd v cōśn n slf-dnayl. Nn v ɖt aplîz t Jonsn bcz it wd nt hv ocŕd t him ɖt it śd. H z ɖ slf-apôntd xpśn, a sosiopaʈic narssist. H hz dpartd bcz, in hiz vy, h z infiṇtli mor importnt ɖn eni presidnt, or rūl or insttyśn.

Bt ɖ sem aplîz t hiz attyd t Brexit. H dd’nt riyli hv a stroñ vy abt ẃɖr t līv or rmen. Bt h dd hv a stroñ vy abt ẃć wz bst fr Boris Jonsn. Hvñ md hiz ćôs, h sd ẃtvr cem t hand in ɖ campen, ẃɖr it wz tru or nt, jst az h hd dn in hiz jrṇlizm. A sirịs p’liticl līdr – sirịs in ɖ sns v acordñ prîoṛti t naśnl nīdz, nt ɖ līdr’z ǒn advantij or gratiḟceśn – wd nvr hv bn so reclis. Lêtr, h clemd t b ɖ wn hu cd gt Brexit dn, bt ɖt wz anɖr lî; ɖz wr mir wrdz n ɖs wz a mir pǒz. H hd no îdīa ẃt wd wrc or d damij n h dd’nt cer îɖr.

In ɖer bc, Jonsn at 10, Ánṭni Seldn n Remnd Nywl dstil Jonsn’z c’rir intu ʈri cor trets: hiz c’rizma, hiz slf’bzorpśn n hiz slfiśnis. Ɖer comn ʈred z an absns v moṛl sirịsnis, rflectd in ɖ we h livd n rūld. “Cōzz, cmitmnts, colīgz, az wel az plejz, poḷsiz n partnrz wr rgardd az mirli transitri n trnzax́nl,” ɖe rait. “Eni cd b jetisnd ẃn ɖe no longr srvd hiz inṭrests or pleźr.” Ivnts hv cnfrmd ɖ truʈ v ɖt. Yṛpiyn Yńn, parḷmnt, Cnsrṿtiv parti. Hu riyli cerz? Nt Jonsn.

Jonsn hz nǎ, it sīmz, wōct awe fṛm parti poḷtics. Phps h hz dpartd fr evr. Phps h wl rtrn. A mnoṛti v Toriz, an īvn smōlr mnoṛti v votrz n a hanfl v oṿmîti nyzpeprz r stl preyñ fr anɖr act. Fr ɖ rest, Jonsn līvz bhnd a damijd prsnl repyteśn, a damijd parti, a damijd sistm v guvnmnt, a damijd parḷmntri dmocṛsi n a damijd cuntri.

Ɖ p’liticl sistm on ẃć Jonsn atmtd fr so loñ t impoz hiz prṣnaḷti n hiz lac v standdz hz, bî n larj, rpulst hiz asōlt. Bt it hz tecn losz in dwñ so, n a secnd asōlt canot b rūld ǎt. Līdrz sć az Jonsn smtmz win n smtmz lūz. Bt ɖe olwz damij, n ɖ damij mst b rperd n mst b gardd agnst in fyćr.

Ɖt z ẃ, in an importnt sns, ɖz past fy dez r funḍmnṭli abt Brexit. Untl rīsntli, Brexit hd bcm a tbu. It flt inevitbl ɖt a jeṇreśn wd hv t pas bfr it wz p’liticli poṣbl fr a ny form v rleśnśp t b cnstructd wɖ ɖ YY ɖt wd undu ɖ harm v ɖ vot in 2016. Ic̣nomic struglz, ɖ ćaḷnjz v clîṃt n mîgreśn, n ɖ wor in Ycren ol mc ɖ nīd fr ɖt rībildñ mor presñ. A stedi śift in public opińn twdz closr cooṗreśn, foloud bî Jonsn’z fōl, nǎ opnz ɖ dor t a mć mor dtrmind riingejmnt.

Ɖt wl nt b īzi. Bt ɖ bigist lî ɖt Jonsn evr tld, n ɖ wn ɖt wz most wîdli b’livd, wz ovr Brexit. It hz rzultd in ɖ larjist pìs v damij v ɖ mni h inflictd on ɖ cuntri. Jonsn’z fōl n unpopylaṛti òt, ɖrfr, t riopn Britn’z rleśnśp wɖ Yṛp. Ɖt z tù big a qsćn fr ɖs or eni uɖr fyćr guvnmnt t cīp loct awe in ɖ tù-dificlt box. It z tîm, in uɖr wrdz, t tec bac cntrol.

Instroduction to Ñspel

"House by the Railroad," Edward Hopper, 1925

13/01/2024

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