When British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resorted to an obscure constitutional device to suspend debates in Parliament for a period of five weeks, his move seemed shrewd: the suspension was designed to allow Mr Johnson to pull Britain out of the European Union quickly, and without the need to negotiate complicated trade arrangements with Europe.

But the strategy has backfired: Mr Johnson has now not only been ordered by lawmakers to ask the EU for an extension of the separation negotiations - something he has always pledged not to do - but he has also been denied his desire for early general elections in order to break the impasse.