Johnson Defeated. Labour in Control.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, whose votes Mr. Johnson needs to call an election, has said repeatedly that he will not agree to an election until the law stopping a no-deal Brexit is on the books. That way, Mr. Johnson would be denied the wiggle room to, say, schedule an election after the Oct. 31 deadline for leaving the European Union and letting Britain crash out of the bloc without a deal.

Benjamin Mueller, "Parliament’s Next Brexit Brawl: When to Hold Elections"

We are at that part of the Brexit "Walking Dead" story where the zombie has actually been commandeered by a human being, put on a leash and guided this way and that.

Boris Johnson, suffering three defeats yesterday in parliament -- two on the bills blocking a crash out; one on snap elections -- is done, kaput. After a feeble attempt to block the anti-crash out bill in the House of Lords, Johnson allies have capitulated; the bill is supposed to clear the chamber by the end of the week.

Johnson is now taking his demands for new elections to the public, and it is a mighty perverse poetry. The Tory Party, guided since June of 2017 by the single imperative to avoid another general election, is unable to bring one about.

But, please, make no mistake. Johnson's demand for a people's vote is yet another ruse. He wants to lock in a crash out under cover of a snap election. That's why the opposition is completely correct to wait until the anti-crash out bill is signed into law before agreeing to an election.

It's taken a long time to get here, but let's savor it for a moment or two.