10 Things Britons Have Learned About Boris Johnson Recently

1. The British Prime minister, when Mayor of London, had an affair in 2013 with a young blonde American woman, Jennifer Acuri. At the time, he was eager to present the image of a married father of four, living at home with his family.

Britain’s Sunday Times has details of Ms. Acuri telling friends of the affair and Johnson’s visits to her London apartment.

2. Ms. Acuri received many thousands of pounds of public funds from the office of the Mayor of London and from other government departments. She went on trips to Singapore, Malaysia and New York with Mr. Johnson.

3. The London city council has now sent a dossier on the payments from Mr. Johnson’s office of public money to Ms. Acuri to the Metropolitan Police. Members of Parliament accused of improperly obtaining much smaller sums of money during the expenses scandal ten years ago were rightfully sent to prison.

As the Conservative Party opened its annual party conference, the Guardian newspaper‘s front page featured a “MeToo” accusation by a respected journalist, Charlotte Edwards. She states that Johnson had grabbed her upper thigh at a lunch, pressing his fingers into her flesh.

4. Britain’s Supreme Court declared that Mr. Johnson had committed an unlawful act in suspending Parliament so that he did not have to answer questions on Brexit. An opinion poll shows 45% of voters believe Mr. Johnson should be prosecuted.

5. In effect, the Court unanimously ruled that Mr. Johnson had lied to the Queen when he insisted she sign a special decree dissolving parliament so that he would not face scrutiny over his Brexit policy. He has had to apologize to Her Majesty.

6. The long-time Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, who had served until July of this year, wrote in The Times that Johnson has to go for a No Deal because of his financial backers.

They have made massive investment bets on the basis of a No Deal crash for the British economy, which they would lose if there was an extension or a compromise deal.

Johnson, wrote Hammond, “is backed by speculators who have bet billions on a hard Brexit – and there is only one option that works for them: A crash-out No Deal that send the currency tumbling and inflation soaring.”

7. Johnson described women MPs who have had serious death threats from extreme right-wing supporters of Brexit as “humbug” – i.e., as making deceitful statements. He was responding to a plea from a Labour MP, Paula Sheriff, to tone down his language.

As it happens, Ms. Sheriff was a close friend and neighbor of the Labour MP, Jo Cox, who was murdered during the Brexit campaign in 2016 by a right-wing nationalist.

In the Commons, Johnson just laughed away as nonsense the idea any woman MP who opposed Brexit should be concerned for her safety.

Amber Rudd, a cabinet minister who resigned early in September in protest at Johnson’s obsession with a No Deal Brexit, said of Johnson: “The sort of language coming out from Number 10 does incite violence. It’s the sort of language people think legitimizes a more aggressive approach and sometimes violence.”

8. Johnson told MPs the best way to honor the memory of Jo Cox who campaigned passionately for Britain to stay in the EU was to pass his hard Brexit proposals.

9. Downing Street is now accusing MPs who oppose Johnson’s hard Brexit policy of collusion with the French government. As evidence, they refer to holding meetings in the French embassy in London on the law adopted two weeks ago which says Johnson has to request an extension to the Article 50 procedure if there is no agreement by October 31st on a withdrawal treaty.

Johnson describes the new law as the “Surrender Act” and used the term “surrender” 20 times in a BBC interview on Sunday ahead of the Conservative Party conference.

Nigel Farage joins with Johnson in describing MPs who opposed a hard Brexit as “betraying” the country. Downing Street says of MPs opposed to Mr. Johnson: ”We will demand the disclosure of all details of their personal communications with other states. The drafting of primary legislation in collusion with foreign powers must be fully investigated.”

10. Allies of Johnson say that the United Kingdom could face civil disorder and violent demonstrations in the style of the Gilets jaunes in France unless MPs bow down before the prime minister and endorse his hard Brexit policy.

According to the former Justice Minister, Dominic Grieve, the only way Johnson could force through his No Deal Brexit is by declaring a state of emergency and taking powers to force through decrees that by-pass Parliament.

Mind you, all this is happening in the United Kingdom — not Belarus, Egypt or the Philippines. Meanwhile, every opinion poll this year shows a majority want the UK to stay in the EU.