Brexit exposes flaws in UK democracy: China Daily editorial

For those that like a good farce, Brexit is a gift that keeps on giving, with the government stumbling from one pratfall to another.

In the latest trouser-dropping denouement to a move by the British government, Britain's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson broke the law when he decided to suspend Parliament for five weeks in the run-up to the Oct 31 deadline for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

The parliamentary suspension deprived the members of Parliament of the ability to fulfill their role of overseeing the government, the court found, and thus was "void and of no effect". This was the second slapdown of Johnson's bid to do an end run around Parliament after the Scottish High Court ruled his action was illegal "because it had the purpose of stymieing Parliament".

Johnson had argued that closing Parliament until Oct 14 was a routine move to allow his new government to set out a new legislative agenda. But neither court saw it that way. The justices unanimously viewed it as an exceptional use of executive power by the prime minister aimed at circumventing Parliament, which represents the will of the people.

What happens next remains to be seen. Johnson has repeatedly insisted he will deliver Brexit on the scheduled deadline date — even without a deal, something Parliament has declared a legal no-no, having already passed a law that forces Johnson to delay Brexit if no deal has been agreed with the EU by Oct 31.

Although Johnson has said he would rather "be dead in a ditch" than ask for another extension. The divorce deal struck between the EU and his predecessor Theresa May has been rejected by MPs three times, and the EU rejected Johnson's new Brexit proposal last month. It will require a remarkable softening of positions or something out of the blue for Johnson and the EU to reach an agreement with less than 40 days to go before the deadline, not least because there has been no movement from either side on the so-called Irish backstop.

To escape the stalemate over Brexit that has seen Britain sinking deeper and deeper into the quicksand of burlesque political leadership, Johnson has sought a snap election for a fresh mandate to get on with his agenda. But that has been vetoed by MPs by a decisive margin. Which basically leaves Johnson in a similar position to his predecessor.

More than three years after the British people narrowly voted to leave the EU in a nonbinding referendum, the country still remains deeply divided over how — and even whether or not — to do that. The deadlock is making a mockery of the UK's self-vaunted democracy.