Nightmare at Downing Street comes to an end

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation on Thursday was met with an almost undiluted glee, with The Economist simply terming it "clownfall".

"Them's the breaks," he said, in full nonchalance, a recurring theme in his leadership role, while announcing that he was stepping down.

Johnson's often boisterous mannerisms and his famous dishevelled hairstyle, along with his moniker of "Britain's Trump", have all played a role in projecting this image of a "clown" that the former PM had so happily accepted.

Whether his "dishonesty, cronyism, and a dilettante attitude to the affairs of state" made him a regular clown or Stephen King's nefarious iteration of the circus fixture in the form of Pennywise is something worth debating within the UK itself.

Johnson was forced to resign after senior members of his cabinet coordinated their departures.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak resigned within minutes of each other Tuesday night, triggering a flood of resignations among their Cabinet colleagues and lower level officials.

By Thursday morning, 50 Cabinet secretaries, ministers and lower-level officials had quit, leaving with harsh words for their leader.

Soon enough, Johnson's house of cards had collapsed. It was, of course, months in the making.

Johnson, 58, had clung on to power for almost three years, while accusations against him ran wild: he was too close to party donors and he protected supporters from corruption allegations, NPR reported.

His now infamous party at Downing Street, which broke all pandemic lockdown rules the nation had to abide by, was another feather in his cursed crown. The event, dubbed "Partygate", led to 126 fines to 83 people. Johnson stood firm and said all protocols were followed at these office parties, with many believing he misled the Parliament.

And then came the clincher with Pincher.

MP Pincher, at the time the conservative deputy chief whip, had assaulted two men and those revelations followed many others.

This started the chain of events which eventually led to Johnson's fall. Although Johnson first said he was not aware of the allegations, it was later found that he had indeed known all along. Johnson apologised for appointing Pincher deputy chief whip despite knowing, but by then it was too little, too late.

With the economy in tatters, Johnson had nothing to defend him. He had dug his own grave. It was time to step in it.

Now the Conservatives will elect a new leader, but Johnson could stay in his current till at least October.

A boon for Bangladesh?

But as the dust settles on his tumultuous reign, the jury is still out on what this could mean for Bangladesh, a former colony of the self-aggrandizing Great Britain.

Johnson's often boisterous mannerisms and his famous dishevelled hairstyle, along with his moniker of "Britain's Trump", have all played a role in projecting this image of a "clown" that the former PM had so happily accepted.

Whether his "dishonesty, cronyism, and a dilettante attitude to the affairs of state" made him a regular clown or Stephen King's nefarious iteration of the circus fixture in the form of Pennywise is something worth debating within the UK itself.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, is also keeping a close eye on its third largest export destination.

In the fiscal 2021-22, Bangladesh exported a total of $4.82 billion to the United Kingdom, the figure making up 9.27% of the Southeast Asian country's total exports.

This was a 28% growth from the last fiscal year, with the export market buoyant on the back of market reopening following pandemic closures.

Of the export amount, most – $4.50bn to be exact – was from the garments sector. There is now hope that this figure can increase even further.

Kutubuddin Ahmed, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said Johnson's resignation bodes well for Bangladesh.

"Boris Johnson became unpopular without it even coming to his attention. He was arrogant. Even if he made good decisions both the conservatives and the labour parties would oppose it. His resignation would benefit us all. It will be good for the UK's trade partners," he said.

The truth of Kutubuddin's assessment could be immediately gauged by looking at the value of the pound.

The currency jumped in the aftermath of the PM's resignation, rising as much as 0.8 per cent against the dollar on Thursday. The sterling hit a high of $1.2023 and also reached a four-week high against the euro, at €1.173, The Financial Times reported.

Even then, if the next in line cannot find a way to rein in raging inflation – forecasted by the Bank of England to reach 11% in autumn – Bangladesh will soon be feeling the brunt of it.

Britain's inflation rate hit 9.1% in May, a new 40-year high and up slightly from the previous month, The Office for National Statistics said.

Rising inflation has already seen people cutting down some non-essential expenditures, with clothing being one of those.

The fallout from this on the Bangladeshi export scene is yet to be seen, but the warning bells had been rung months earlier.

"We are already feeling the pressure of inflation. Some buyers have started to defer purchase orders, because in such a situation people will spend mainly for food, and buy clothes a little less," said Faruqe Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), at a press conference in the middle of May.

He said the Russia-Ukraine war has led to hikes in prices of food, fuel oil, as well as to fears of a recession in some parts of the world, including Europe. 

"Inflation is rising sharply around the world, which could affect the demand for clothes and people's purchasing power in the international market. This is a cause for concern for us," said Faruqe.

Calling him the weakest PM in UK's history, Kutubuddin also said Johnson tried to use the Ukraine war as a distraction, clinging on to the office even after an unprecedented revolt which saw 50 members of Parliament resign from his government within 48 hours.

A war, a distraction

Johnson's role in the Ukraine war has come to be seen through many lenses, his actions often bordering on the contentious.

The UK's The Telegraph, a staunch voice of the conservatives, said Johnson's resignation was a serious blow to Britain's global standing "when it could least afford it." It said that regardless of his handling of various scandals at Downing Street, "the Prime Minister has demonstrated much-needed clarity of purpose and vision."

In an op-ed published in The Guardian, an explicitly left-leaning newspaper, but with an Israeli-bias, it was said Johnson's visit to a war-torn country was nothing new, as "that this country has a habit of dispatching prime ministers in wartime."

Writing on the arguments for keeping Johnson in office, the op-ed said, "And yet, the most troubling is the one that has now become central to Johnson's rationale for continuing in office: that it would be wrong to remove a British prime minister while conflict rages in Ukraine."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was the first leader of a G7 country to visit the war-torn Ukraine, before making a second visit soon after.

Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, a professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka, said Johnson, and in turn Britain, had only been fuelling the fire in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

"The resignation was coming. The series of scandals, the lack of pandemic plans and the biggest issue: UK's economy – all led to it. After Brexit, he lacked focus. His talks with Ukraine PM Zelensky were very counterproductive. He functioned as a poodle of the USA, with no foreign policy," he said.

On the impact of this on Bangladesh, he said there would be none. "But it depends on who replaces him. I hope they choose someone who can steer the EU away from the war and join France and Germany, who have been working behind the scenes to do so. A stable, war free Europe is what benefits Bangladesh. So it's important who comes next."

Not all bad

For some others, Johnson's reign wasn't the worst thing that it is being played up to be.

After all, it was Johnson who tore up Theresa May's playbook on international students, thus allowing them to stay in the UK for two years after graduating to look for a job.

Maya F Haque, who studied at Sussex University and is now working in the UK, said, "Brexit was oddly good for international students because it started the graduate route visa, which I am on. It was done to attract talent from former colonies who were preferred over unskilled workers, including Europeans."

She also said while she was not 100% invested in UK politics, "the people around me at work and in general say the alternatives are not much better either."  

Whoever comes next may just be handed a poisoned chalice. Boris Johnson's erratic tenure has left behind a slew of problems.

There's the possible highest ever inflation in autumn, a currency in a free fall, a crisis of immigration policy, an eroded public trust and a 4.3 million patient backlog for the National Health Service.  

The UK needs to revive its Merlin for there is no longer any need for Sir Dagonet.