US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: Boris Johnson Determined to Steer a Hard Brexit

Description

One expert who wasn't surprised by Johnson's decision to double down on a hard Brexit was Robert Ford, a political science professor at the University of Manchester.

"It's true he's no ideologue, he does what seems in his self-interest," Ford says. And right now what's motivating him is to complete an agreement he can claim is a final Brexit as soon as possible.

Johnson, he says, won the election by promising a rapid deal, and its results also purged the Tories of all of their moderate MPs. "This is the most Euro-skeptic Parliament ever elected, and he won't want to trigger a rebellion."

Moreover, he's surrounded by aides who are hard Brexiters, Ford adds. "His advisers are not compromisers."