Handmaid's Tale author warns British voters of the dangers of Boris Johnson

Margaret Atwood – the author of feminist novel The Handmaid’s Tale – has delivered a stark warning to Britain amid the political turmoil of Brexit.

Atwood was being interviewed by the BBC to promote her new book The Testaments.

The sequel to the Handmaid’s Tale is released this week. In the original book, released twelve years ago contains a powerful quote about the temporary suspension of the constitution.

Author Damian Barr recently went viral after tweeting the quote, inferring a connection with the news that prime minister Boris Johnson was to suspend parliament.

Given the accusations that Johnson is acting like a dictator by shutting down parliament to avoid scrutiny, Atwood was asked her thoughts on the situation. She said:

Are we back at the time of Charles the 1^st vs parliament? Are we back at the time when a King was claiming absolute divine authority and sidelining anybody elected by people?

Is it going to be King Boris the 1^st against parliamentarians? Are they going to start meeting in fields?

When asked what she’d say to British people who’ve turned against parliament because of the Brexit delays, she responded:

If you don’t need parliament, you’re cooked. Because you’ll have a dictatorship… If that’s what you want – go ahead. You won’t like it.

On Twitter people reacted strongly to Atwood’s words.

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