Resisting the Coup: Besieging Boris the Bonapartist

I don't attend many demonstrations nowadays, but I felt compelled to attend the London protest yesterday against the proroguing of Parliament. There were rallies all over Britain which, as far as I can tell, were very well attended, attracting both Leave and Remain voters and people such as Bridie Watson of Exeter, about whom the BBC says:
 "NHS pharmacist Bridie Walton, 55, said she had never been to a demonstration before, but joined the protest in Exeter to oppose Mr Johnson's plan".
Boris probably wasn't in 10 Downing Street, but it was exhilarating to join the crowds that peacefully besieged the entrance to his new street of residence. 
Mark Easton of the BBC commented, somewhat disparagingly:
 "It's a far cry from the numbers that we saw marching through Westminster earlier this year. I think we'd probably measure this one in the thousands [in central London]".
Mr Easton should have borne in mind, firstly, that previous rallies have been national mobilisations for a march in one spot: London. The regional rallies drew in the numbers that would otherwise have gathered in Whitehall. Secondly, the rallies were called at short notice, and made full mobilisation in all regions difficult.

I have to admit that the organisation of the event was the best that could be done at short notice, but there were inevitable difficulties. I was in the crowd for well over an hour, but I could not hear (or even see) any of the reported speakers. Nor did I see any of the counter-demonstrators who reportedly turned up, although I did see a minor spat between two men near Westminster Tube Station. Democracy in action...

Among my fellow demonstrators were some genuine DEMONstrators: a group of Satanists in black cloaks. They were displaying a sign which said: "Satan hates dictators", which comes as a surprise. If that's true, Boris had better beware strange sounds in the night - unless it's his girl friend leaving.
One thing that disturbed me a little was the presence of families with small children in buggies among the crowd. I fully support the right of families to take their offspring on marches or orderly pickets, but the crowd was thickening as the afternoon wore on and any violence at the front, or pushing from the back, could have led to the children being placed at risk.

In the provinces, one of the best-attended rallies was held in Liverpool. Like Bridie Walton (a good Liverpool name!) in Exeter, it attracted people who have rarely, or perhaps never, attended a political demonstration. One such is my friend, Phil Scott, who took the above photograph. Phil, who holds no partisan pollical views, speaks, I am sure, for many "non-aligned" people who showed up yesterday when he says: 

"I think the Labour party hi-jacked the meeting too much for their own ends, rather than focusing on uniting the anti-Brexit broader church."

To me, and others with political experience, that's no surprise. Realistically speaking,the Labour Party is the largest opposition party, and took the lead in organising yesterday's protests. My best advice to Phil and others who feel like he does is to write to the Labour leadership at local and national level, pointing out the need for a united front against Brexit and/or no deal. To be fair, Jeremy Corbyn has attempted unity on the "no deal" issue.

But what of the great bugbear himself? Well, Boris did not appear yesterday, unsurprisingly. In fact he has become uncharacteristically shy of late. How a man with so much past dishonourable conduct ever became our prime minister is mind boggling, Anyone who wishes to go over his past misdeeds and indiscretions can click on this link and this one.

Instead, I'd like to examine the charge against Boris that was made so vociferously yesterday: that he is a dictator. Well, he has prorogued Parliament, but we should be careful about characterising him as a 21st century version of Hitler, Stalin or Mussolini. He hasn't - so far - made any moves towards eliminating political opponents. 

I can, though, see some vague resemblance to the great dictator of the early 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte. Simple-minded souls will point out the obvious differences, but there are similarities. Both exhibit the Nietzschean "will to power"; they both have overweening egos; they both circumvent established practice when it suits them. Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France, while Johnson has flouted so many laws that do not suit him (including moral laws) that Napoleon might almost have regarded him as an acolyte. Perhaps, instead of dignifying Johnson with the title of dictator, we should simply dismiss him as a would-be Bonapartist.
The major difference, of course, is that Napoleon's career ended at Waterloo, 1815. Johnson, when he comes unstuck, will simply leave 10 Downing Street and catch the 18.15 train from Waterloo Station. And I doubt that Abba will write a song about his demise...