LONDON - 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 his country out of the European Union quickly, and without the need to negotiate complicated trade arrangements with Europe.

Yet as Parliament in London has now fallen silent, the strategy backfired on its maker: Mr Johnson has 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 the prime minister has also been denied his desire for an early general election in order to break the current impasse.