Boris Johnson can barely lead his own government, let alone heal the UK’s divisions

The resignation of Amber Rudd from the cabinet and the Conservative Party further weakens the position of the prime minister. It comes on top of the expulsion of Tory rebels who voted against the party, and the resignation of Jo Johnson, his own brother. It demonstrates, as our chief political commentator John Rentoul argues, that Boris Johnson is trapped. He cannot have an early election. He refuses to ask for a Brexit extension beyond 31 October, as he is required to by the backbench bill that becomes law today. He cannot realistically defy the law. He cannot realistically negotiate for changes to the agreement negotiated by Theresa May, an agreement that failed to pass the House of Commons on three occasions. There is no obvious way out.

We will learn in the next few days how he proposes to respond. Meanwhile, we have to accept that the Tory party is being pulled away from the centre, from the One Nation policies espoused by many moderate MPs including Ms Rudd. It is becoming a cult. There is a curious parallel with Labour, which is also being led by extremists, from the left rather than the right. But many leading Labour MPs are at least attempting to pull the party back towards the centre, even if this results in considerable contortions.

We have a feeling for those contortions in the idea, articulated by the shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, that Labour should negotiate a new deal with Europe, which it would then campaign in a referendum to reject. Negotiations have to be in good faith. What incentive would European negotiators have to agree to anything if they knew the people on the table opposite would try to overturn whatever was agreed?

However, Labour is the opposition; the Conservatives, for the moment at least, are the government. And this government cannot govern. Ultimately, there will have to be a general election but, as The Independent has consistently argued, it would be quite wrong to hold an election as a quasi-referendum on the UK’s relationship with Europe. General elections are about many issues.

It is quite possible that the result would lead to a House of Commons with no overall majority. The only realistic path forward is for there to be a Final Say vote on the specific issue of the UK’s relationship with Europe, followed at an appropriate time by a general election to take the country on beyond that.

The UK desperately needs a government that will seek to bring people together, not to drive them apart. For much of the period since the Second World War, both major parties have sought to do that, with success, more or less. Neither is attempting to do that now – quite the reverse. Yet there is across the country broad agreement as to the sort of society we wish to become, an agreement that transcends divisions over our relationship with Europe. We have learnt in the past few weeks that a government led by Mr Johnson cannot bring people together. It is not even trying. That is the conclusion reached by Ms Rudd, Jo Johnson and many other Tory MPs, and it is one that will resonate with many voters.