The Daily - The Fate of Boris and Brexit

Britain is voting in a general election today. During his re-election campaign, Prime Minister Boris Johnson hitched his re-election campaign to a promise to “get Brexit done” — while selling bankers and blue-collar workers two very different visions for the country. Some hope his promise will mean restoring the United Kingdom to its past glory. But what does it actually mean? Guest: Mark Landler, London bureau chief of The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading:There is growing anxiety among some voters that the prime minister’s vow to complete Brexit could undermine the country’s national health service, a key social safety net. The service is at the center of an election scandal in the final days of the campaign.As Britain prepared for the election, a Times reporter spent two weeks driving from London to Glasgow. He found a country united only by its disunity.With agitations for secession in Scotland and Northern Ireland, our chief correspondent asks: Could completing Brexit spell the end of the United Kingdom as we know it?

Duration: 27m
Broadcast on: 12 Dec 2019
Audio Format: other

Some hope his promise will mean restoring the United Kingdom to its past glory. But what does it actually mean? Guest: Mark Landler, London bureau chief of The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

There is growing anxiety among some voters that the prime minister’s vow to complete Brexit could undermine the country’s national health service, a key social safety net. The service is at the center of an election scandal in the final days of the campaign.
As Britain prepared for the election, a Times reporter spent two weeks driving from London to Glasgow. He found a country united only by its disunity.
With agitations for secession in Scotland and Northern Ireland, our chief correspondent asks: Could completing Brexit spell the end of the United Kingdom as we know it?

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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Brought to you by the Capital One Saver Card. With Saver, you are an unlimited 3% cashback on dining, entertainment, and at grocery stores. That's unlimited cashback on ordering takeout from home. Or unlimited cashback on tickets to concerts and games. So grab a bite, grab a seat, and earn unlimited 3% cashback with the Saver Card. Capital One. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com for details. From the New York Times, I'm Michael Bovarro. This is Daily. [MUSIC] Today, as Britain holds its election, Boris Johnson is appealing to voters who believe that his promise to get Brexit done will mean we're storing Britain to its past glory. My colleague, Mark Lamper, on what it actually means. [MUSIC] It's Thursday, December 12th. [MUSIC] So Mark, you have been traveling around the UK in the days leading up to this general election. What is the feeling there? Well, it's kind of strange, Michael, because on the one hand, this is a monumentally important election for the British people. And it was called in a very dramatic way back in late October by Boris Johnson. But as the election has unfolded over the last six weeks, it's felt oddly anticlimactic. I think some of this has to do with the time of the year. It gets dark really early in Britain at this time of the year. The weather's also cold, and I think more importantly, the British people are really in the mood for Christmas. Christmas is just a huge holiday in this country. And so I think for that reason, rather than generating the kind of excitement which sort of leads to a peak the way it would in an American election, you sort of have a kind of a surly electorate that feels like they're being forced to think about these serious issues at a time when they ought to be decorating their tree and going to their kids' Christmas play. Right. Nothing says Christmas like a general election. Indeed. And in fact, even from a logistical point of view, it's potentially problematic because some of the polling places that you would normally use in a general election are being reserved for Christmas parties, the activity exhibits, plays, concerts. So even from a purely practical point of view, it's not the best time of the year to hold an election. But you said that this is, in fact, a monumental election. So explain why that is. This is an election, correct me if I'm wrong, for prime minister. It is not a vote for Brexit, right? Well, it isn't technically a vote for against Brexit. But in a way, it's a proxy for that vote. And to understand that you need to go back to when Boris Johnson called this election and why he called it.

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