The unusual Saturday Parliamentary session was great entertainment here across the ocean. This was the first Saturday sitting since the Falkland’s War. Unlike C-Span in the US, Parliament is exciting and suspenseful. It’s like a collection of characters from the latest British drama.

The long anticipated Brexit vote was thwarted today by the debate over the Letwin amendment. That amendment sought to create an insurance policy against BoJo pulling a no-deal Brexit by stating that nothing is final until Parliament enacts the laws setting it up. The amendment was passed so Boris Johnson in response pulled today’s vote on Brexit and plans to submit the enacting legislation next week. In a fit of pique, he also refused to write the EU asking for an extension as the Benn amendment requires. That will head to court on Monday.

Watching the events leads to a few observations.

• All of these amendments–Letwin and Benn–show a profound lack of trust in Boris Johnson. If he sows distrust and opportunism, he will reap its penalties. I doubt all of these measures would have been necessary to protect against Theresa May’s unilateral actions.
• The DUP party (North Irish zealots) voted for the Letwin amendment. A third-grader could easily figure if those votes had been cast against the Letwin amendment, it would have been voted down. That is a non-subtle sign to BoJo that his Brexit deal will require DUP support to pass.
• After the vote the Northern Ireland member of Parliament reminded the House that the DUP needed more time [wink-wink-nudge-nudge] to study the effect on their cherished Union. (I say that with sarcasm because the DUP only cherishes the Union when it can be used to suppress the republicans.)
• At this point, BoJo can’t go back to the EU to renegotiate again. The Benn amendment prevents crashing out. His only choice is to cave and once again bribe the DUP. Whether this bribe comes solely as money as it was earlier with Theresa or also involves continuing the persecution of gays is hard to determine. This negotiation may happen behind the scenes in the next 48 hours, but it will not be clear until next week’s vote.
• In the post-vote debate one of the Scottish representatives got up to speak. At that point the whole Tory side of the house walked out. With such clear contempt of fellow Brits, who happen to be Scots, this will reverberate. If I were a Tory running for Parliament in Scotland, I would look for alternative work because that footage will be run again and again and they will rightly get trounced at the polls. [So much for English notion of fair play!]
• Whoever wins the next election, I hope the numbers break out so that the vile little party, the DUP, sinks back into oblivion and no one needs them. Americans don’t know the DUP doesn’t speak for the majority of the Northern Irish. Several elected members of Parliament opposed to the DUP (and Brexit) do not sit because they refuse to take an oath to the King which they find anathema to the concept of an Irish state. [No oath to the King, ring a bell with any Yanks?]
• John Bercow is hugely popular over here for us Yanks who watch the Parliament session. We will miss him when he stands down. He would be one of two people with whom I would like to dine with during a visit there. The other would be Theresa May to talk about books because she put me on to the wonderful Matthew Sheldrake mystery series.