U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson's loss of his Tory parliamentary majority, done very theatrically by the British equivalent of RINOs, just as he was speaking to parliament, was billed as a disastrous defeat for his Brexit agenda.  Brendan O'Neill at Spiked wrote this:

Tonight's vote by MPs to seize control of the parliamentary agenda in order to prevent a No Deal Brexit is not, as they claim, a wonderful assertion of parliamentary sovereignty against a dictatorial executive led by Boris Johnson.

No, it is an assertion of the political elite's arrogant authority over the people. If MPs have seized power from anyone this evening, it is from us, the public, the millions who voted to leave the EU. This is not parliament vs the executive — this is parliament vs the people, and it opens up one of the greatest, most troublesome constitutional crises of modern times.

He's right, of course.  And Johnson himself understood the implications, tweeting this yesterday:

Jeremy Corbyn wants to cancel the referendum and argue about Brexit for years. I am committed to leading our country forward and getting Britain out of the EU by October 31st #LeaveOct31

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 3, 2019

Yes, if thing stand as they do now, delays will go on into eternity, each deadline pushed back, and an exit from the European Union impossible.  The E.U. will notice this and just keep throwing up a wall of resistance to a deal to ensure that Britain stays, like it or not, or else keep moving the goalposts — into eternity.  When delays are endless, what an opportunity.  These useless satraps have nothing better to do, after all.  They like the pounds flowing in.  And such a coincidence: the parliamentary betrayal happened on the 80th anniversary of France and Germany declaring war on Britain.  Plus ça change...

What happened Tuesday certainly involves complicated parliamentary maneuvers, and the people writing of such disappointment do understand how these stakes work.

That said, it seems that the worst that can happen is that the country will be forced into a general election — very soon.  Johnson says that's what he wants.  There's actually reason to think Labor may just try to stop him.  But it's likely he'll succeed.

Advantage Boris.

After all, how was it that Johnson, instead of the eminently more reasonable-seeming Theresa May, ended up in his position?  He's only there at all, and not too long ago, because of a powerful groundswell of public support for respecting the will of the majority on leaving the European Union.  Three years of dithering and delays by the inept May kowtowing to the wishes of the European Union and its endless delays is precisely why the Tories decided to take a chance on Boris, someone they rejected earlier as too wild and crazy.

The parliament now will pass its law to demand a deal-only Brexit, allowing Europe to set the terms; they will appeal to the queen; they will get the Lords to sign on (although this is far from certain, actually); and Johnson will respond by calling a general election, something everyone knows will take guts, because he's putting his job on the line.  The Brits are going to notice that, too, and in all likelihood will vote for him.  People like a fighter, and they like political courage.  There's also a zeitgeist of populist revolt, worldwide, going on.  Political winds.  The people to be swept out may well be the Tory wets who have been migrating over to the Labor side and that of its moderate sidekick ally.

After Johnson wins, he will then form an alliance with the Brexit Party of Nigel Farage.  The British RINOs will be the ones out on their ears.

This excellent analysis from L'Ombre de l'Olivier, via Sarah Hoyt at Instapundit, seems to be putting its finger on it:

More to the point, it seems almost certain that there will be a general election later this year. The Remainer MPs might want to consider that one fairly likely potential outcome of that is Prime Minister N Farage — and I think it is fair to say that in the remainer demonology, Johnson is just a senior devil whereas Farage is Lucifer himself. This outcome is more likely if the UK does not leave the EU on October 31 in an orderly fashion.

Johnson, meanwhile, is weathering the storm like a sea captain, tweeting his stance copiously, and coming up with excellent summations of what's at stake.  He just tweeted this one:

Corbyn and his surrender bill would mean years of uncertainty and delay. I am determined to lead this country forward and take Britain out of the EU on October 31st 🇬🇧

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 4, 2019

...and retweeted this:

If MPs vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s #SurrenderBill tomorrow, we’re going to have to make a choice:

🇬🇧 Brexit on 31st October with @BorisJohnson and the Conservatives
рџЏі Years of delay and arguments with Jeremy Corbyn and Labour pic.twitter.com/c0U42ooerh

— Conservatives (@Conservatives) September 3, 2019

He's showing courage.  He's not losing his nerve.  Voters will take note.  And while nothing is certain, it seems more than a little likely that with his gutsiness and steady hand, he will win this election, sweeping out the weaklings in his party, and then steam full speed ahead toward Brexit, which is what the British really voted for, deal or no deal.  The E.U. in such conditions, unlike now, is going to really, really, really want a deal.

Image credit: Andrew Parsons / BackBorisCampaign via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.