‘Boris the dictator’: How Europe’s newspapers reported on suspension of parliament

Journalists wrote of a ‘coup’ worthy of a ‘military dictatorship’, designed to railroad through an unpopular policy without scrutiny

European media reacted with shock to the news that Boris Johnson is to suspend parliament to help force through a no-deal Brexit. Outlets from around the continent criticised the prime minister for an autocratic approach, and discussed the dysfunctionality of Britain’s eclectic uncodified constitution.

Germany’s public broadcaster Deutsche Welle went with the headline: “Boris the dictator” above an editorial saying a “weakness in the British political system – rooted in its archaic traditions and heritage – is coming back to haunt the country”. The outlet added that “What Johnson is doing... is befitting of a military dictatorship”.

German newspaper Zeit meanwhile said in a report from its London correspondent that Johnson’s move was “profoundly undemocratic” and that its “intent is obvious” – to railroad through a policy without the support of parliament. An accompanying op-ed warned: “This is now democracy’s end”, adding: “It’s a coup”.

The op-ed continued: “For the British prime minister, the democratic constitution is nothing more than an empty procedural rule, which he bends over, how it benefits him.”

Italy’s Repubblica daily newspaper described the British constitution as “peculiar and somewhat schizophrenic” and warned that the suspension was “a move of rare constitutional gravity that could open a crisis unprecedented in recent British history: something like that happened when Charles I gagged the Parliament, triggering the English Civil War”. It concluded: “The political and constitutional chaos could be enormous, with probably very serious consequences: will British institutions hold up the shock wave this time?”

La Stampa also noted that “the last time a British leader suspended Parliament it did not finish well” and ended in “two decades of war”.

In Poland, leading daily Wyborcza ran with the headline: “Elizabeth II agrees to suspend the work of parliament. The British respond: ‘Stop the coup’”. Hungarian daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet said in an op-ed that while Boris Johnson’s “rolling style and energetic impetus” might lead to the UK finally leaving the EU, “the circumstances are not worthy of a 21st-century European democratic state”.

Belgium’s French-language La Libre described the events in Westminster as the “dangerous coup de force of Boris Johnson”, noting that parliament had repeatedly voted against the policy Mr Johnson wanted to railroad through. Belgian Dutch-language daily paper De Morgen described the situation as a “coup” on its front page but said in an op-ed that the manoeuvre is probably meant as a provocation to bring about an early election. “In British politics, maintaining power is above everything else, even above the national interest,” the paper said.

Johnson commits a very British coup, reads the headline (De Morgen)

In an analysis piece, Spain’s ABC newspaper said: “The irony is that the Brexiteers’ central argument, recovering British sovereignty upon leaving the EU, leads them to deny the element at the base of their admired constitutional system, the sovereignty of Parliament.” Its front page bears a mock-up of the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK album cover. El Pais newspaper said in an op-ed entitled “How to silence parliament” that “the ship of the British state sails into unexplored constitutional territory”. It added: “The use of the prerogative to force the closing of the session respects the letter of the Constitution but is against its spirit.”

Boris Johnson brings the Queen into the Brexit war, the Spanish newspaper says (ABC)

France’s Liberation newspaper said Mr Johnson has “commenced hostilities” against MPs and said the suspension is “a constitutional decision but hyper-controversial”. A rare supportive voice came in an op-ed from French daily Le Figaro, which describes the suspension as “a masterstroke” and “not necessarily contrary to the constitution”.

Boris to suspend parliament, this Polish daily reads (Wyborcza)

Greek newspaper Kathimerini was one of a number of publications from around the continent to report on an official petition against the closure of parliament obtaining a million signatures in fewer than 24 hours. The Irish Times, which has reported the ins and outs of the Brexit process as closely as most UK newspapers, did not seem as shocked as the rest of the continent’s press. It said the British parliament is set for a “showdown” and notes the unusual length of the prorogation.