Brexit is turning Johnson into a Trump from across the Channel

Brake on immigration and deployment of warships to defend territorial waters. In the difficult negotiation with Brussels, the British premier raises the tone at the expense of his citizens

(photo: Richard Pohle - WPA Pool / Getty Images) The Brexit affair now seems to be one of those TV series that are renewed season after season , between twists more or less forced and final that even when they seem to be on the home straight, are then postponed for the umpteenth time. Last weekend the deadline to conclude the negotiations on the new trade agreement in force from 2021 was supposed to fall, but as has become tradition, the dialogue ended with nothing and the possibility of a British exit from the European Union with a no deal becomes more and more concrete. Also because relations are not at all friendly, as shown when it is happening in the English Channel.

Among the deadlocks in the negotiation is the European request for a ban on unfair competition by British companies, with an attached commonality of addresses regarding environmental and labor standards in companies on both sides of the channel . Other skirmishes concern the procedure to be followed in the event of legal disputes between the two blocs, with discussion on which courts will be able to rule on what. But above all, the underlying problem seems to be today the sea, in the guise of fishing rights and the reception of migrants. The United Kingdom wants total control of the surrounding waters and related resources, any agreement with the European Union on fishing rights will then have to be in the perspective of a great advantage for London. From Brussels, on the other hand, it is emphasized that a rigid position of this type cannot be assumed only on the one hand, then claiming to circulate and fish freely in European waters. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has established that any migrant who has passed through Europe and then crossed the Channel will be considered ineligible to obtain the right of asylum and will therefore be sent back. In practice, therefore, either you arrive by plane from the country of origin or London will close ports and airports.

The British Prime Minister's statement in the last few hours shows that the situation is particularly delicate. "We will send warships to protect our waters" in the event of a no deal, Johnson announced, a sign that the months, indeed the years, of inconclusive negotiations with Brussels are taking a dangerous turn. The feeling is that the prime minister is fielding a mix of patriotism and machismo to demonstrate at least in words to the electorate the greatness of that Brexit project that has actually proved a failure in many respects for the British economy and society. Ports closed, masters in our home and on our seas, no to any compromise: these are the usual populist jingles with which to sell hot air to the people, without thinking about the consequences.

Also because the first to have appealed to Boris Johnson to sign the trade agreement with the EU and wipe out the specter of the no deal were the workers in the primary sector of the British economy. The anti-Europeanism that the prime minister has been placing at the service of his citizens and businesses for months is actually a huge boomerang that is bringing them to their knees. If there is one of the two parties that would surely get relatively less negative consequences from a no deal, that is certainly the European Union, which is not only bigger and stronger but also has, for one thing, the new president. United States Joe Biden. Brussels could put its soul in peace should no agreement be reached on fisheries and similar issues, seeking other international partners or strengthening relations with the states with which it already has them. London would instead find itself isolated: and all because of a simple speech of pride by its premier, who continues undaunted to want to demonstrate a great British negotiating force that does not actually exist.

Who most of all was economically destroyed first by Brexit and then by the pandemic is the United Kingdom. As Simon Jenkins wrote in The Guardian, "Leaving the European Union has been a controversial political option, but leaving the single markets and European customs unions is madness." As the days to reach an agreement diminish, the time has come for Boris Johnson to stop playing with warships and throwing diplomatic tantrums, putting his soul in peace on one fact: a no deal in the short term could be sold as a symptom of British greatness, however, in the long run it would be the cause of his agony.