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

Editorial: We desperately need a prime minister who will seek to bring people together, not to drive them apart. And the best way to do that is with a Final Say vote, followed by a general election

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.