As opposition to Boris Johnson’s ‘coup’ grows, so does the need for unity against a no-deal Brexit

The shockwaves from Boris Johnson’s constitutional hand grenade are spreading. Ruth Davidson tried to play down her policy disagreement with the prime minister when she resigned as leader of the Scottish Conservatives. But it does not take advanced codebreaking skills to know that she is unimpressed by his underhand tactics in abusing the royal prerogative to try to force a no-deal Brexit through parliament.

George Young, the wily and experienced One Nation Conservative, was more explicit in his letter of resignation as a minister in the House of Lords. “I am very unhappy at the timing and length of the prorogation, and its motivation,” he wrote. He came close to accusing the prime minister of dishonesty: “I have been unpersuaded by the reasons given for that decision.”

Indeed, the way Mr Johnson has sought to limit parliament’s ability to defend the British economy from the damage of a no-deal exit has had two effects that could be counterproductive for him.

First, it has put the Conservative Party’s fraying unity under new strain. We suspect Ms Davidson and Lord Young will not be the last to resign. While some Conservatives, such as Jo Johnson and Dame Caroline Spelman, who have opposed no deal in the past have been surprisingly willing to give the new prime minister the benefit of the doubt, the ranks of potential rebels have been swelled by a cohort of former ministers who served under Theresa May.

The second effect of Mr Johnson’s putsch – not a literal coup d’etat but in the original sense of “thrust, blow” – has been to galvanise and bring together the forces opposed to no deal, who are sometimes referred to disparagingly as the Remain alliance.

As Andrew Grice, our columnist, points out, it is not quite right to describe Ms Davidson, for example, as a Remainer. She, like many Conservative and Labour politicians who voted Remain, accepted the referendum and wanted to make Brexit work, by agreement with the European Union.

There are tensions in the alliance against a no-deal Brexit, in that some, such as Ms Davidson, want a Brexit deal, while others, such as Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, want to cancel Brexit altogether.

Which is why it is so important that the alliance sticks together. It will take unity and determination to prevent the no-deal exit being pursued by a ruthless and devious prime minister.

And, if that alliance succeeds, it will need to remain united in the general election that will probably follow. As the analysis by Professor Sir John Curtice for The Independent shows, the parties that advocate a referendum now, rather than later, risk splitting their vote in a fight against a fairly united hard-Brexit Conservative Party.

The opponents of a no-deal Brexit must stay united and see it through.