The Brexit Chronicles

Pull It

Published on October the 22nd, 2019. 19.50.

"I remember getting a call from the fire department commander, telling me that they were not sure they were gonna be able to contain the fire, and I said, 'We've had such terrible loss of life, maybe the smartest thing to do is pull it.' And they made that decision to pull and then we watched the building collapse." - Larry Silverstein, 2002.

Larry Silverstein's ambiguous remark regarding the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 came to mind when Boris Johnson threatened to 'pull' the Withdrawal Agreement Bill if the Commons didn't support both the Bill as well as the accelerated 'Programme Motion' to get it approved in three days; instead warning any refusal on their part would be grounds for calling a General Election. However with his credibility irrevocably damaged by sending the extension request he vowed never to, and rumours he was considering a further yet supposedly 'final' ten day prolongation, it was no surprise the paper tiger's bluster intimidated no-one, and he suffered yet another defeat. The House supported the Bill in principle, but rejected the timetable. Hoist on his own petard BoJo the serial bottler has announced the legislation will be 'paused' pending the EU's decision regarding an extension. How craven! How pathetic! A real leader would have followed Silverstein's example and said 'pull it'.