After news broke that embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson had agreed to resign, former Brexit leader and Member of European Parliament Nigel Farage shared his perspective on why Johnson went from declaring the opposition would have to "dip their hands in blood" to get rid of him to waving a white flag in a matter of hours.
"I've never seen anything like it," Farage noted of Johnson's downfall. "I've seen people's reputations fall and people's reputations rise in short periods of time," he added. "These really are huge momentous events."
We are all witnessing a classic British farce. It’s called Carry On Prime Minister.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 6, 2022
The quick collapse of Johnson's government, Farage said, was the result of "a catastrophic loss of confidence in the country amongst those who voted conservative back in the election of 2019 and amongst those who make up the government." In the last few days, the officials, the ministers, "those who run the country," as Farage explained, resigned "en masse to a point where [Johnson] literally did not have enough men and women willing to take jobs to keep the country running."
"It's the old story of the straw that broke the camel's back," Farage continued. "You know, there've been a series of upsets with Johnson not telling the truth over Downing Street parties whilst the rest of us couldn't go visit our grandmothers." There have also been, Farage highlighted, "many many times where what [Johnson] said has been found just simply not to be true. But in the end it was over these allegations — serious allegations of sexual impropriety — and us discovering that he did know the truth about this individual, that he didn't act, and then tried to lie to cover it up," that brought Johnson down, Farage said.
"People just said enough is enough!"@Nigel_Farage explains exactly what has changed in the last 24 hours that led to UK PM Boris Johnson's resignation. pic.twitter.com/v8AMgTr6Os
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 7, 2022
"People just said enough's enough — enough is enough — this is it, we cannot go on with it," Farage explained of Johnson's government and constituents. When it comes to Johnson's legacy, Farage said "it's not good," while "at the moment it's very bad indeed" for the conservative movement.
In the hours leading up to Johnson's downfall, Farage predicted that the PM would resign, and called for conservatives in the U.K. to stand up for what they believe in and return to "small state, low tax" conservatism in an op-ed for The Telegraph. It is a "great opportunity" for conservatives to "work out what they stand for," he also said while warning that an attempt by Johnson to stay on would cause "the Tory civil war" to continue.
The big question now is does Boris Johnson leave No. 10 today or try to cling on as PM for a few more months?
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 7, 2022
If he tries to stay, the Tory civil war will continue…
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