What a waste. (Charles McQuillan / Getty)
It is surely not too early to write Boris Johnson’s political obituary; the wonder is that this has gone on so long, the great blond beast stumbling to his doom mortally wounded, like a mammoth studded with the spears of tiny hunters, without any of his circle yet willing to put him out of his misery. What a pathetic end this is, what a waste of his natural talent and heaven-sent good fortune, and what shameful squandering of a historic opportunity.
If Boris was, as his enemies proclaim, a Trumpian figure, it was only in the sense that he was an imperfect vessel for the revolutionary moment he was chosen to oversee. Like Trump, he was a metropolitan liberal who read the mood of the times and chose to play the role of tribune of the ignored, riding the anger of the forgotten as his vehicle to power. Like Trump, he was temperamentally unsuited to the needs of the hour: too lazy, too careless of detail, too distracted by his own personal and financial entanglements.
As with Trump, Johnson’s political foes, the liberal establishment he had betrayed, stymied his rule with all the stunts and tricks liberalism deploys to arrest democracy, here directly imported from the imperial metropole: the fictitious parallel institutions of liberal shadow governance such as Independent Sage, the same pointless, time-consuming lawfare of Twitter barristers calling themselves defenders of the rule of law, the same mass demonstrations of fevered identity warriors stoked by the opposition press for narrow political gain. No scandal was too petty, no wild accusation of fascism or dictatorial tendencies too overblown in the liberal para-state’s mission to save democracy from the voters.
For five and a half years we lived through the politics of crisis, a cold civil war in which the immediate triggers may have changed but the overarching antagonists remained the same. Boris was entrusted with the task of delivering Brexit against the opposition of the nation’s true government: the Westminster blob of bureaucrats, journalists and NGOs who ensure that, however people vote, nothing truly changes; the entire apparatus of the parallel state created by the union of New Labour legislation with a complacent and inept British establishment.
With democratic governance deadlocked by the wounded and vengeful establishment, Brexiteers were forced to choose having Brexit done at all over having it done well. To Johnson’s credit he delivered Brexit when it would have been easy not to, and he was at times willing enough to bend the rules to do so — Brexit was, after all, the result of the popular perception that the rules as they stand don’t work; that the British state functions far below its potential capacity; and the British nation is poorer, less safe and less happy than it ought to be. With a historic majority, at the helm of the country during its greatest moment of political change since Suez, Johnson had the potential to lead a radical reformist government and arrest the nation’s seemingly endless decline. Alas, the forces of inertia and dysfunction were too great.
The Dom and Boris partnership was the best chance of defeating the Westminster rigmarole machine, the source of the solipsistic froth and exhausted defeatism that passes for British governance. In blog after blog, and then in tweets written in the awkward textspeak of an eccentric uncle, Cummings has excoriated the failings of the civil service and the lobby courtiers in savage and convincing detail. And then, with all the bitter passion of a spurned partner, Cummings deployed the very same Westminster bubble he despises and pledged to destroy as his chosen tool to bring down his faithless master.
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SubscribeThe best Roussinos article for ages – very well written and I agree with much of it.
Johnson…my goodness, it’s so hard to describe him. When I look at him and his French frenemy in the Elysee I see two men who see in the other something which they desperately need but don’t have.
While Macron is able to think big, in terms of systems, massive structural change (and does that thinking) – he’s is just not a likeable person. Too arrogant, too out of touch, too showy-offy, too bull-in-a-china shop. If he could just appeal to people on a basic human level (“oh, yeah – Emmanuel? Sure, I’d definitely go for a pastis and a chin-wag with him”), there’d really be no stopping him. As it is, even parts of the liberal media go “bleurgh”.
This personal appeal is what Boris has in spades. He just seems like a rogue who would be really good fun to go for a few bevvies with. But he is intellectually lazy – able but unwilling to put in the hard yards of turning basic intelligence into real reformist capabilities (of the sort Macron has to excess). That’s why he needed Dominic Cummings, and once he was gone then Boris was the personification of a Potemkin village. All show – the last vestiges of the British society of old where – if you came from a certain section of society then you could just expect to “go up” to Cambridge/Oxford without having to really do alot for the privilege and assumed it was your God-given right to, at some point, run the country. It is so outdated – laughable and pathetic.
Boris also doesn’t seem to be able to understand that management and government require making decisions that make certain people really dislike you, and if you can’t deal with that, then you should not be in any leadership role, let alone No. 10. Also: government may sometimes require taking a risk or two, but government does not consist entirely of gambling. He’s too much of a softie, too much a pushover. If I’m being nice, I say “he just wants to be loved”. If I’m not feeling so charitable, I say “the guy is completely spineless”. Today, it’s the latter.
I could go on – I’m sure many many books will be written about Johnson, as he is a fascinating persona. But right now, I just feel very sad – for Britain.
Very good observation about the johnson/macron needs – thanks
Macron thinks big, but is not good at it. His big is his imagination of what Europe should be. It never will. Its a complete delusion. I spent forty years teaching international business students that they ALL imagine the rest of the world like their experienced home country. it ain’t. Macron is at 101.
It’s interesting how all these political debates have become personalised; something else we’ve imported from America?
I confess I don’t read the manifestos at election time. I tend to vote Conservative because my impression of its overall ideals and thought processes fits more with my own.
I have always found both the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats too infested with ideologues, big on identifying what everybody else gets wrong, but with few practical ideas of how to make any alternative work. The Labour party, particularly, may have ditched Corbyn but still remains infested with people who I simply couldn’t trust in government.
That preference for a conservative view point has so far survived any temptation to vote or not vote for “the man.” I was tempted by Blair but thankfully resisted.
Great point about Macron. I seem to be in a minority that quite like him simply because he does seem to have some geopolitical strategy. A western leader that really thinks, is increasingly a rarity.
I don’t like Macron much but his stand against Islamism, almost entirely unsupported (shamefully) by other western leaders was brave in today’s climate, whether for political expediency or not.
I started off being very keen on Macron indeed (to the horror of my French friends…) but have gradually gone off him (for a number of reasons) and now couldn’t think of anything better than seeing him get voted out. Although that won’t be the end of him…he’ll be back on the EU level like a bad smell before his stuff’s even been shipped out of the Elysee. Lucky us.
Macron is essentially a jerk. He is super intelligent, and has good ideas, but he’s just a pr**k. Like John Major and Heseltine (who probably should have been PM), his big electoral advantage for the French people was that he wasn’t Francis Hollande, who was rightly despised. “Il est trop petit” I tell my French friends about Macron (I live in France). They smile and nod, but say nothing and I know that will probably end up voting for him.
I agree, a very good article but I do disagree about Trump who got an awful lot done at home and abroad, unlike Biden. What surprised me was Boris’ stand against woke. If he is against woke he is doing a good job camoflaging it.
Yes it is really sad that we still do not have full Brexit until Northern Ireland is free or that we come away from The European Court of Justice which stops us dealing with immigration to mention just two. Boris had the chance of coming out of that but it appears that he didn’t want to so he is a mixture it appears. We do however have to be grateful for his general stand on Brexit which gave him a large majority to actually achieve it to a certain extent. We cannot take that away from him.
I don’t think the ECJ has much to do with the immigration issue. Do you mean the European Court of Human Rights?
Bang on. By the way, is there a NOT missing at X? “if you can’t deal with that, then you should X be in any leadership role, let alone No. 10.”
You’re right, well spotted.
Boris, for most of his life, has been like the dog who feels compelled to chase the car – but has never given any thought as to what the hell he might do if he actually caught it.
The stories of his boyhood ambition are legion. Once he’d lowered his sights from becoming “World King” to merely Prime Minister, he single-mindedly strove to achieve that goal. His route to Number 10 was circuitous and eventful, there were plenty of mishaps along the way – any one of which would have ended all hope of high office for the rest of us. But Mr Johnson – in the guise of his invented alter ego “Boris” – was not like the rest of us. He was a rockstar, achieving the single name recognition that few ever manage, he seemed impervious to scandals that would have ended other careers, he was cavalier, full of bluster and obviously had little regard for the truth but he also had boundless energy, a ready wit and an enthusiasm that radiated off him. He was an irresistible force.
No doubt the Johnson family psychodrama played its part in shaping him but, like his hero Churchill, he was driven by more than mere ambition – it was destiny, or so he believed.
Churchill, for all his manifest personal faults proved to be a man of genuine substance, England’s hero, alongside Nelson, his name will never be forgotten.
Boris, regrettably, has proved to be a man of little substance. Having reached Downing St, he had achieved his “destiny”, and like the aforementioned dog with the car he didn’t seem to know what to do with it once he’d got it. He has squandered nearly all the good will that he’d built up over years in the public’s imagination. His political instincts seem to have deserted him – certainly any Conservative instincts – and he appears fully in thrall to his wife’s green agenda. He was elected on the back of his promises over Brexit – yet, as has been detailed many times elsewhere, almost all those promises are thus far unmet.
If Boris leaves office over something as seemingly trivial as Partygate it will be the final disappointment for a PM who promised so much, had the manoeuvring room of an 80 seat majority to effect real and radical change, yet achieved so very little.
Of course he was always self-interested, but for all that, I must admit I had high hopes for him as PM, not as a leader so much as a figurehead.
I’ll try and explain: Boris, as a Tory let’s not forget, managed to get the predominantly metro-left-leaning London to vote him in as Mayor, twice. He was successful as Mayor of London because he delegated responsibilities to good people on his staff, whilst he acted as London’s irrepressible “Ambassador of Fun” to the rest of the world. He was the colourful character around whom a broad-church approach could coalesce, whilst the more boring, prosaic functions were carried out by less colourful, more serious people. He had genuine cross-party cut-through, like no other politician of my lifetime.
It was my hope that once the rancour of Brexit died down, with his popular appeal, a good cabinet and a newly functioning civil service around him (after Cummings had weeded out the Blairite obstructionists) Boris might be PM for at least 2 or 3 Parliaments. His energy and optimism would be a great advertisement for the country whilst more diligent backroom people would ensure that a post-Brexit, global-facing Britain would thrive.
Whether it was simply that, having achieved his dream of becoming PM, he lost interest, or whether it was his brush with Covid, the influence of his wife and the Downing St squabbles between her and Cummings, or whether he was simply captured by the blob, I don’t know, but somewhere along the way BoJo lost his mojo.
That analysis actually makes sense. You could call it the Ronald Reagan model. I never understood how a man with Reagan’s personality could be anything but a disaster, but if we was quite successful – and he was – it was down to having the right people doing the work. Which shows three great talents in Ronald Reagan – the ability to choose and trust the right underlings, to set a general direction, and to pick his fights. Regrettably the Boris lacks those. To achieve the same things, Boris would have had to pick and trust serious people, to give some sense of direction to the whole, and to decide whom to let down and disappoint and when to do something not immediately popular. None of which is in his nature.
Quite. Though, perhaps as a more telling indictment of the entire political class (PPE Grad, turned SPAD, turned Jr Minister etc), if one looks around at the Westminster talent pool, it would be hard for anyone to pick the right people to do the work!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but some senior members of Reagan’s team were steeped in Realpolitik from the Nixon years? So even though Reagan’s actual press conference numbers were as low as Biden’s, as an actor he knew how to make the TV camera love him in a way that Biden simply doesn’t. The machine just wrote the scripts and ran the business of government. The Tories don’t have that at all anymore.
Thatcher had a formidable drive, intellect and was rarely found lacking on the detail, but she still needed a team of like-minded senior Tories around her to do the news-rounds, rally the faithful and ensure she could play to her strengths.
True enough, but (much as I always looked down on him) I would give Reagan more credit than that. He was the president, after all. Which decisions to outsource, who to put in charge of the machine, and whose script to read, were his to decide. As was who to back when his advisers disagreed. If you like the result, the man in charge deserves due credit – like the Boris deserves blame for the clusterf**k he is presiding over.
I wonder if Boris sees the green agenda as inevitable so he wants Britain to be at the forefront and make a success out of it post Brexit. That’s not an altogether bad idea.
I wonder if the Boris sees the green agenda as the best way to get nice headlines and goodwill from his girlfriend until the next U-turn. Since when was he into long term planning?
Well unless you’re in his brain you don’t know
You could both be right. The embrace of Green as a business strategy for UK makes a certain sense. Carrie’s credentials could be seen as a plus for the party and she may even have a certain appeal with female voters.
But if it means taxing the voters to cover the upfront costs involved then that’s not going to fly. Trust in government infrastructure projects has never been lower.
This is stuff we should have been doing in the late 90’s with our peace dividend, financial services tax intake and relatively low borrowing rates, especially with events in Iran, Iraq and Kuwait fresh in our minds.
Forgive me, Cheryl, I don’t mean to be argumentative but I don’t understand how Britain being “at the forefront” of the Green agenda is of any benefit to the country.
Surely the only benefit is the overall, global environmental picture – no one country benefits more than another from that.
However, if we trash our economy, cripple personal finances and fail to use the resources we have at our disposal – all to be able to say that we hit Net Zero targets before other countries, we are putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage, aren’t we?
In fact, if you wanted to be cynical, you could make the case that the best way for a country to benefit from the green agenda would be by being the LAST country to adopt it, and therefore be at an economic advantage whilst benefitting from the environmental improvements brought about by everyone else’s efforts. (Not that I’m advocating that as a course of action, obviously)
We might possibly benefit from building and selling Green technologies, but we could do all of that anyway, without having to impose draconian eco-restrictions.
Boris pushing to achieve these targets ahead of any other nation is of no material benefit to the global environment. Even if the UK’s total energy signature was removed entirely, it would still have almost no impact on the worldwide situation. At that point it seems to be more about being able to boast about our Green credentials than about actually saving the planet, no?
Quite.
Actually, if you think about this it’s quite possible that by switching to a more green-sceptic agenda the Tories could create another winning coalition for the next election in much the same way they did with Brexit. It is not even necessary that a majority support this position – the point is that there’s no major party staking out this ground right now and that doing so would both split and energise the green lobby and increase support for the Green Party.
This would be easier with a new leader, but Boris could also do it (in theory). Neither Labour nor the Lib “Dems” can credibly stake out this position.
I suspect there is a growing majority that at least want Net Zero slowed down or paused. Just wait for the utility bills to arrive !
Personally, I’d start with repealing Ed Miliband’s ludicrous Climate Change Act. It needs to be made clear that this was a deliberate move to increase fuel bills. No politician seems to be saying that. Nor talking about the huge subsidies to the already wealthy solar and wind farm magnates.
Christopher Booker was saying it 15 years ago. But it was Blair and Brown that sold off our Nuclear Industry… British Nuclear Fuels and Westinghouse, only now finding we need the French to build new Nuclear Power stations. I despair of our Political class they just seem so incompetent and naive.
Totally agree. The Tories (and recently the Aussie Liberals) have made a gross miscalculation, politically speaking.
…Currently all left wing and centrist parties are signed up to the ‘destination’ (aka: the apocalypse is about happen > it is our fault/man made > we must race to Net Zero or die). They only differ in degree of speed of progress toward the destination (ie. those willing to take us back to pre-industrial times immediately, vs those willing to do that by X date).
Setting aside one’s view on the topic itself, it makes zero POLITICAL sense to join all other parties in accepting the premise …and getting on the road to this destination.
Think about it…
1. If one DOES accept the premise that we are about to be burned to death in lakes of fire and lava, then it’s grossly negligent to delay any steps needed to prevent the apocalypse. If you have accepted the premise (the destination) then why would you wish to go slowly down that road, that’s stupid and irresponsible, so where are the votes for that position coming from?
2. Conservative parties only split their base by embracing green dogma (in large part because all solutions presented are either socialist, or outright neo-feudal). As soon as they embrace the concept of needing to have zero emissions, they hang themselves. One group flounce out the door in anger. The other portion either stick with them, or think, “well obviously they agree it’s a crisis, I think maybe that other party over there are taking the crisis more seriously, I’ll vote for them…“.
Meanwhile, not a single left winger will ever say “Oh look, the Tories are embracing Net Zero. You know I always despised everything about them, but maybe I’ll vote for them now, since they went left wing on this one single issue“.
It is political suicide. How do they not see that?
We seem to forget that THE PLANET DOES NOT NEED SAVING – it survived being hit by a large meteorite that wiped out 90% of life and yet here we are. The GREEN movement is about saving the werewithall for human existence and a massive chance for virtue signalling. decisions need to be made about what is the best plan for ALL humanity not just the affluent – and that might entail prioritizing food and energy etc. Mini nuke power stations and food production in deserts – as Israel – before ego massaging ‘I feel protective about our lovely planet” warm fuzzies. Bit like an ant colony concerned for the well being of its field. Have concern for the planet but spare the arrogance that the planet’s future health is dependent on our behaviour paleese. It was only ever all about US.
The ‘green agenda’ is unravelling as we speak. If we believed in it we should WANT sky high petrol and gas prices!
Very well written. Thanky ou. What is true is that the next election will not be a walkover for anyone including the tories.
It appeared to me that he was somewhat diminished by his serious encounter with COVID.
Sadly this article seems to me a mixture of broken dreams + more dreams. It sounds as if Aris wants what I want but I doubt very much whether such things are possible, not in politics.
In Boris’s defence, (why do I do it ? I don’t know) his time in office was poleaxed by a pandemic which was an unknown quantity at the time. Boris experienced it personally first hand, in hospital, that will have weakened him. He has a wife with rather more to say than she should have, or so it appears + two new babies one after the other, no doubt with the expectation of him being a modern dad.
“Events dear boy, events.”
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”.
But, on the other hand, “it’s not over till the f a t lady sings”.
As natural conservative it seemed clear enough to me when he replaced May, that the Boris had no ideas, no vision, no plan, no understanding, no morals, no patience for hard work, and no self-control. And an insatiable hunger to be liked and applauded. The only positive qualities I could see was that he was against the EU, capable of winning elections, and so good at making people laugh and feel comfortable that he could wow friendly audiences and tumble women with remarkable ease. My prediction, back then, was that he was a clown and shameless liar and would be a disastrous PM. Why, except for wishful thinking, would anybody have seen him as a promising Prime Minister?
He was elected because people were sick of the constant thwarting of the EU Referendum result. Most know he’s a chancer, but were prepared to turn a blind eye to his faults simply to finally get Brexit over the line. Now it’s almost there bar the shameful selling out of Northern Ireland most peoples attention have turned to other domestic matters and he’s been found wanting
My guess is there was never any point at which NI was really sold out.
I firmly suspect that the U.K. government always intended to reverse the Protocol the minute Brexit happened.
Then why haven’t they done so?
I did not vote for Boris for that very reason. My goodness, the 2019 election was a sad state of affairs. Tragic. I saw Corbyn and thought “oh Lord, the plague”. I saw Johnson and thought “cholera! Run for the hills!” So I went for the Lib Dems who seemed, on balance, like a bad dose of the flu. I didn’t even agree with their EU policy, but looking at the alternatives, I knew that was the only thing to do.
You are more sophisticated than me. I just spoilt my ballot paper.
I was the opposite, I used to be a LibDem voter, before that it was Blair, shamefully. The Lib Dems illiberal undemocratic hysteria in the face of the Brexit vote turned me, a nominal Remainer into a Tory voting Brexit supporter. Their uber wokeness on top has made me doubly sure I have made the right choice in abandoning their pitiful party. I don’t see me ever voting for them again, they are an utter disgrace.
I think Brexit was more important and would have voted for anyone who could achieve it although it was a shame I had to vote for my lousy woke tory MP.
Name him/her! Wokists must be exposed.
I often looked at those polls that showed a decent % of 2019 Lib Dem voters voted Leave. Now I know one of them!
Friends of mine voted for him because they predicted he was the one person who could actually get Brexit over the line. And he did, which is no mean feat. I see him as way more complex than the simpleton clown that you describe. I am a clown, so I know the species – the clown is just another mask. Everyone has masks – also strengths and weaknesses.
He failed because his (yes stupid) womanizing (hardly a rare trait), resulted in a calamitous divorce and remarriage that ruined his stable relationships and alliances.
I agree with you.
Me too.
I thought it was thee divorces but I might be wrong.
It’s interesting, because in theory, getting divorced and behaving badly with women shouldn’t make any difference to a politician’s electability – even the opposite, possibly. But I think in Boris’ case, his behaviour is so extreme and self-centred, that it does seriously impinge on his re-election chances.
See my second paragraph….
The revelation from Petronella Wyatt that he cried like no man I have seen before when she scolded him over his time keeping. When she moved to America and got engaged to a man there, Boris rang up and told the guy that Pet was his girlfriend. Is this Prime minister material?
Is he a ‘womaniser’ though? I’ve always thought this word described a heartless shagger, a collector of notches on the bedpost, but I think something else is driving Boris into the arms of women.
Yes, shyness and insecurity
I see that he has appointed another (attractive) Female advisor Joy Morrisey who has been involved in some racy film scenes. It seems he is a sucker for attractive Women that divert his attention away from PM job. Here we go again?
I absolutely agree!..
Even as a non Conservative, hear, hear! How did people convince themselves that this narcissistic sociopath was ever suitable to lead any party?
Tony Blair, Jeremy Corbyn, Paddy Pantsdown, Ed Milliband
At least you can for Boris is that he is not evil, contemptuous, condescending or sanctimonious
Simple. Passion for Brexit after May’s dithering.
Disagree, I thought the way he went about purposefully in those early days of office, the team he chose, the first things to get done like enshrining NHS funding and pay rises (since forgotten – the 1% payrise everyone as so upset about was an additional payrise) showed a lot of energy and promise with the right ideas. Levelling up, investment, positive about Britain post Brexit etc. A good leader can’t do everything so bring in the people who can. Boris cleverly brought in Cummings, it is just a shame that relationship soured so much because really they should have accomplished more. 2 opposites who need each other (Cummings is utterly lacking in empathy, courtesy or people skills but great at planning, data and strategy, Boris the opposite) but can’t live with each other for long. We see it all the time. The pandemic blew everything out of the water and none of us will ever truly be able to grasp what that was like in the corridors of power, especially those of us who spend weeks and months in the garden on 80% pay. I know that those of my friends who worked throughout really were up against it and many of them coped by drinking a bit more, hanging out with people they technically shouldn’t etc. I find it hard to judge Partygate too much because as far as I can see 10 Downing Street was a household in itself as much as supermarkets and hospitals were. If nurses could let off steam with TikTok videos and buffets (which they did a lot) then sitting in the garden at Downing St, or getting a birthday cake, to me, really not a big deal. I think it’s been made a big deal by those who have been waiting to use a pile-on to get Boris out. An open door to his enemies perhaps, but even so, I’ve seen these pile-ons before. The media barons and the remainer establishment pick a target and they don’t let up til they achieve their goal – getting what THEY want rather than what the electorate actually voted for – which wasn’t them.
yup, covid has wrecked many good plans and intentions -you are right to highlight this fact. It may well be that a sloppy ‘gain of function’ lab and suppression till too late is the actual root cause of much planetary dysfunction – we should not forget the big picture when apportioning blame etc
Sounds like the Democratic Party
Many of us in Greater London were convinced that, just as he had turned out to be a much better Mayor than we expected, he would repeat the performance as P.M. As it happens his slavish adherence to the diktats of SAGE from the Summer of 2020 onwards, followed by pandering to Greenery etc, had real Conservatives disillusioned 18 months ago.. He can’t be trusted any more.
But this is what Aris has been saying… too much state control. It was the Oil and gas Authority a state Quango that has ordered Cuadrilla to stop fracking permanently, dancing to the green lobby’s tune. One day we will run out of money to keep this labour controlled entity going.
Sadly so true.
And who, dear lady, is “the fat lady ?”
the phrase “the opera ain’t over till the fat lady sings” was coined in 1978 by Dan Cook, a sports writer from San Antonio, Texas, after his town’s basketball team had gone one up in a championship series.
I enjoyed this article. Johnson and Trump were both elected on a populist wave and had a fairly clear mandate from the voters, but they lacked the personal and political skills to deliver results, even allowing for the extensive efforts of the establishment to undermine them.
But we’ve clearly learned there’s huge support for a disruptive, conservative leader in the UK and US. As the author notes, what we need are leaders who know how to get the job done. Next time around let’s hope we find leaders of the required caliber.
A mandate for what, exactly? When did the Boris ever say what he was going to do, beyond having his cake and eating it?
We also need leaders who know what the job is. Someone who is not only capable of blowing of the system and sticking it to the woke, but of envisaging and planning something else to take its place. And who believe in something more than the gratification of his own ego.
Trump achieved much more than Boris did in the last 2 1/2 years. The only excuse for Boris’ inaction was his serious illness with Covid, which seems to have done something to his brain or maybe he was always an empty vessel devoid of serious political convictions.
Trump’s first action in office was to reverse most of Obama’s left wing agenda and cut through red tape, which was a relief for many small to medium size businesses, who became fierce Trump supporters. Most importantly he stopped and reversed the previous government’s nonsensical green agenda. The US became energy independent and an exporter of gas and oil. Of course much of Trump’s narcissism and utterances were cringeworthy, but I often thought, that his theatrics were a diversion to annoy the Liberal Left and get them into a hysterical frenzy to distract from what he was doing somewhere else.
So far Boris seems to do the opposite, introduce even more green red tape and make life worse for his electorate and businesses. Instead of cutting through red tape and ease bureaucracy, which should be his first task after Brexit, he seems to be stuck in the same old mold of previous governments…
Great comment. Trump, for all his faults, is a businessman first and foremost. Boris is a writer, a good one, but that’s not the same thing…
I agree entirely.
Don’t forget bringing illegal immigration to historic lows, that was worth everything.
They do lack certain skills (with Trump it’s diplomacy and a massively fragile ego, with Boris it’s focus and lack of attention to detail) but it was the qualities they do possess that made them the champions of the non woke, non globalist common sense working class. Disruption was necessary. The question is how to force the establishment to listen to the electorate for a change so that a bit more balance can be restored instead of constantly trying to force a globalist WEF agenda and the atomisation of nations and cultures.
There has been nobody since Thatcher in my estimation. She certainly wasn’t a populist. She rubbed many people up the wrong way whilst achieving her noble aims.
I think both Boris and Trump underestimated the sheer strength, malice and reach of the deep state / blob that really holds the power.
They had popular support but they were opposed in their goals by the entirety of the corporate media, international organisations, upper classes, the state infrastructure, even the security services. And this power base is a formidable foe when acting in concert against you.
That is possibly more true of Trump than Boris. Trump lost much of his crucial time in office tied up by the hoax FBI investigations and other deep state manoeuvrings, and the impeachments and relentless media hysteria and witch hunting. Bannon, who had been an advisor to his campaign, later said that he tried repeatedly to tell Trump that the entire edifice was corrupt and he needed to fight them all viciously on every front, taking no prisoners. He said that regrettably Trump didn’t listen to him, he was too optimistic and genuinely thought that the press would eventually calm down when the FBI concluded there was nothing amiss, and so he could get back on track. Basically, he had too much belief that the system still retained some good in it. He was wrong, and it hobbled all 4 years of his term until they finally got rid of him.
Boris still had some friends within the system, and due to his general charisma he could get things done. But I think he too was arrogant about the scale of the task and his ability to reform a blob that did not want to be reformed. Only someone like Dom Cummings — happy to be despised, in order to be effective — could pull it off. As soon as he allowed his Mrs to play Game of Thrones and kick Dom out of the tower, it all went pear shaped. The hidden hand of true power reasserted itself and took Boris by the throat. Everything since surely proves that – he is literally just implementing Agenda 2030 instead of his manifesto. He’s been completely captured.
Trump got a lot done despite all the hysteria and muck.
A very well written essay – even though I am not British, it was absorbing and made me feel downhearted.
Boris did represent change – I could see his flaws and yet I could also see how brilliant and popular he could be in his own unique way, especially when bolstered by good partnerships.
The fact that he squandered this opportunity is partly pandemic and partly life choices around these partnerships which isolated him and left him vulnerable. I wonder if he realizes in his darkest hours that he gave up an opportunity to be great.
I realised he was a shallow populist and he didn’t make a lot of effort to disguise this but I hoped that he would at least surround himself with competent ministers and lead a government with constructive and visionary policies. He’s turned out to be a lot shallower and devoid of necessary principles than I’d believed and the competent ministers have turned out to be few and far between, with some shocking pairings like Hancock/Shapps.
I always wary of any argument that tosses in the word ‘populist’: “a person, especially a politician, who strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups”. What is wrong with that? And which politicians don’t try it?
He got Brexit done for the ordinary people and that was huge.
Yes I really dislike it when words like populist get used like an insult. Politicians need to remember that their JOB is to represent the populace, not themselves or the WEF.
Yes if you are doing good things then having the population behind you is a big help, but I think populist in the sense that it is quoted is one who tries to please everyone just because they want to be loved and not to use it for a good purpose. You cannot please all of the people all of the time as Churchill said.
I agree that the term is overused and reserved solely for popular figures on the right side of the spectrum. They rarely use the term for the liberal minded who try to appeal to the masses by offering lots of free stuff.
“Populist” was not intended in a negative sense although “shallow” was in relation to becoming the UK’s most powerful person. He was populist as London’s mayor exactly in the sense you describe and there is nothing wrong in him being populist if he’s competent and trustworthy. That’s where the problem lies. Brexit for the ordinary people huge? Well, have the leavers got what they wanted in real terms? It hasn’t started well and I’m not sure it’s going to get better, and I’m no friend of the EU.
And what do you think the pandemic has had to do with the effect n the economy?
I didn’t have the economy in mind since the pandemic has affected most of Europe to a similar extent. It’s more to do with the medium and long term effects on trade, movement, bureaucracy, cooperation (or lack of, eg. NI) with the protectionist and spiteful EU getting back at the UK, which the UK knew was going to happen after 2 years of negotiations with Barnier & co. To put things in perspective, as a Scot, the comparable situation with Sturgeon is a level of magnitude worse for the citizens, populistic= blatant mindless nationalistic. She has nothing to contribute apart from obsession on independence, deflecting the focus from other more important and critical issues facing the country. One difference is that I don’t believe she gives a d*mn about what others think of her.
I do not apologise for the use of populistic, despite your wariness. Apart from the other aspects, just look at his “man of the people” PR profile, apart from hanging from a zip-line : just google BJ + factory visits or pub visits and select the images. Putin’s been doing the same with his superman profile : wilderness activities, ice hockey, martial arts, etc.
Thank you for that vision. I have viewed the factory and vaccine clinic photo opportunities through gritted teeth, but at least he hasn’t chosen to disport himself half dressed entering the waves off a North Yorkshire beach in December!
Boris is a very complex character. Nobody has fully explained him to me. An immoral character who can come out with amazingly saintly sayings.
You may be correct. Maybe Cummings could explain him but I don’t think Boris could.
Surely it shouldn’t be about being great but a wish to serve the country. Motive is everything.
“…Johnson’s failure will perhaps lead to a more serious Right-wing challenger here in Britain…”
We can hope, but as you have pointed out, no such candidate stands on the horizon. And if no such figure, who comes with a sword, emerges? To me, that leads to a dissolution of the Conservative party as an entity (at least for a time) without the in-built soft-right majority of the UK going anywhere – we’ll all still be here – and indications around the world are that support for the Right is starting to harden rather than softening. It just means multiple different vehicles will need to be used to push governance in the country in the direction we want: messy and fractious, with every second word of every second graun article crying “extreme right populist fascist conspiracy”, every time an axe is drawn to hack away at the dead, ossified morasses at the heart of governance in the UK.
Your comment reminds me of something Peter Hitchens said years ago — that the Conservative and Labour parties were now just two corpses, propping each other up.
They’d long since died, but until they both fell over we couldn’t have anything useful in their place… which has been very bad for the country.
I think he’s right. It’s a great shame that both our major parties have abandoned their natural constituencies, and their core principles. It was once pointed out to me, a few years back, that we are one of the only countries in the world that literally puts the name on the tin when it comes to political parties:
Conservative — the clue’s in the name. People will vote for this party if they propose do things that are conservative.
Labour — Again, this is very simple, just come up with some policies that help working people… you know… the “labour”.
And yet every election cycle we get a parade of idiotic ideas, and the parties spray a bunch of cash around on ‘focus groups’ and ‘polling’ to try to work out what to put in their manifestos. It’s infuriating. It makes me want to shout: “Just look at the sign you’re standing in front of you idiot! And just do that!”
Yes the political parties are corpses. But as this article suggests we must take our eyes off the failure of Boris and Cummings and grapple with structure; the living corpse of the vast governing Blob. The over reaction to Covid has sent a jolt of empowering electricity into this ‘para state’, so callous and indifferent to enterprise and the private sector. And Boris’ meek submission to the radical Net Zero agenda will have similarly a revolutionary impact on our economy and society. These Two Horsemen …ridden by Blob but encouraged by weak Tories now …will make Brexit a total non event by comparison. A popular awakening to the crisis caused by Boris & the Blob’s appalling failures on Net Zero in particular will indeed give a braver wiser future Tory leader a clear cause. But where are they now?
I agree with you Adam
They’re not about principle, they are about power. They will court whomever and say whatever, to get elected. That is the rot that set in when Labour got fed up with losing and became Blairite Tories. The Tories have always adapted, but have become more about the free market than about tradition and conservation. That is the rot that set in with Thatcher. Both Thatcher and Blair did what they did well, perhaps they were needed, but the long term effects of both have had some negative outcomes.
Hear hear!
I was nodding in agreement until these two bits;
“…Johnson’s failure will perhaps lead to a more serious Right-wing challenger here in Britain…”
&” Perhaps…..it will be necessary for the Conservatives to have some time on the Opposition benches to determine what they stand for, ”
The problem is that Labour would extend the vote to 16 year olds, and allow an unknown number of ‘New Britons’ in to claim citizenship.
The problems of electoral boundary reform, the English Question, the fixed-term parliament act and postal voter fraud haven’t even been attempted. If the Tories lose big-time at the next election they might never get the chance again.
Anyone considered ‘right wing’ won’t get very far because the cards are massively stacked against them. The remainers, the leftists, the Twitter mobs etc will hound them and call them Nazis and proclaim over and over that they are so beyond the pale that to vote for them would be akin to voting for Hitler. Unfortunately this approach works.
The Blob is too entrenched, the media is too strong whilst it’s supported at every turn by the Elite. The entire British political and cultural system has undergone complete state capture by Neo-Liberal elements with Marxist tendencies. There’s only one way the right asserts itself in this environment and unfortunately it’s the kind that would see it get all to happily destroyed by the Monopoly of Violence the state enjoys.
“it was easier for the Government to impose needless restrictions on people’s lives than to seize control of the machinery of the state to improve them, building the infrastructure and state capacity Britain lacks.”
I find this summaries the article in one sentence.
Yes, Covid happened, but what came out of it was an effect, not the cause of our troubles.
Perhaps the problem is that he’s a product of and swims in the inner London pool, but the voters who put him in are Out There.
The lost opportunity is just pathetic. Democraxy has been replaced by oligarchy. As you say, Boris’s government been nonsensically funding the very para-state that has helped mortally wound him. Any sane politician would have cut the funding of NGOs and creatives by 99% immediately.
I agree with the ideas in this analysis but wonder if he really could have achieved it all in just five years with a pandemic-induced debt burden. There were early pointers that he lacked courage: denying that there would be a customs border down the Irish Sea and failing to cancel the HS2 white elephant.
Perhaps his laissez faire style of management was bound to be abused by underlings with secure civil service employment. Someone running a more authoritative department might have done better, unless they were to fall foul of the “I was bullied” elephant traps.
Although the article is depressing for those of us looking for change and a smaller state, it did have a spark of hope for something much better than the present cynical view of politics. But, how entrenched is this problem that Aris defines as “the liberal establishment he had betrayed, stymied his rule with all the stunts and tricks liberalism deploys to arrest democracy”? It ruined Trump’s economic revival and judging by the determination to keep focusing on cake here, it is regrettably working. How could it be thwarted?
For a man with an absurd majority far beyond what Labour had? Easy. A lot of legislation totally restructuring the British state. Boris’ issue is his cravenness. He cares what politicos, journalists and civil servants think of when he should have spat in their faces and legislated their fields into irrelevance. They’d have called him a crypto fascist in any event.
I agree. A majority of 80 is historic. He could have shoved any legislation he wanted through the house, so the fact that he didn’t means he chose not to. What a waste!
Debt ” burdens” depend on bond markets
I think it might be too early to write Boris’ obituary. Once the cake-gate dies down I see no reason why the polls won’t recover and the next election is not till 2024. I would still bet (just about) that Boris will win the next GE.
Though recovery in the polls would probably make it less likely he will do the necessary things Aris identifies.
Do you honestly think we will ever be allowed to express our opinion at the ballot box again? I can foresee a suspension of the GE.
I was of the same opinion – until Munira Mirza left. People at that level are not stupid. He is holed under the waterline, and it’s rats bolting a ship which is bound sooner or later to go down.
I go back and forth on it. When she left and Rishi Sunak did his presser I thought that was it for Boris – the coup was underway. It might still be – I guess the police report might sink him. But if that says he didn’t personally break the rules, I suspect there is a route back. Certainly every time the party stories die down, the Tory poll numbers go up. And I think Starmer is a pretty unappetising prospect for most 2019 Con voters.
To be honest Matt, I think it’s because any challenger knows they would be inheriting the most poisoned chalice there ever was. Not just Britain’s own specific problems, but also general stuff like inflation etc. No one wants this job right now, so it’s easier to leave Boris where he is, like a great blond buffer that takes the flak on his way down so the would-be challengers don’t have to lose political capital unnecessarily.
What the next leader is inheriting:
I don’t think cake-gate will sink Johnson, but I think the above issues will in the end. And will probably sink the next leader as well as those issues are not going to be able to fully fixed by 2024.
Exactly. History will determine that Hard Lockdown Hysteria & Net Zero Fanatacism are total disasters. And both Boris and Rishi have their hands dirty, o matter the panicky circumstances of early 2020. The only hope they have is if they point out the Labour – the party now of the Big State/Union Blob – wanted to lock harder still like the pitiful mad Welsh & Scots. But that is a tough sell. They have a limited time now to repair the damage to the enterprise culture and push back against the Red/Green hysteria. But there are zero signs of a real awakening (75,000 fracking jobs in North were smoked yesterday – thats levelling up for you!). No. They are prisoners of the Blob..seemingly too weary and punchdrunk to take a stand.
Yes, I would like to hear more about why Munira left. Surely not because of the parties.
She was head of the policy unit. Apparently she was disappointed with the way the race report (which argued that class matters as well) was buried. I would guess there are other policy areas where Munira found it an unsupported uphill battle.
I imagine she will have designs to stand as an MP, so it’s unlikely we will hear the real reasons for a long time.
Munira Mirza by all accounts is a very level headed and intelligent person, and loyal to Boris. If she is leaving I suspect she sees Boris has changed into someone she no longer recognises, I don’t think it was really about Starmer at all.
What an excellent essay, that describes this modern tragedy perfectly, it is almost like something from Aeschylus*.
However the title words “He had the opportunity to save Britain” is surely an exaggeration? Britain is beyond saving, the inevitable break up of the Union is fast approaching, yet ‘we’ still strut the world stage like some demented pygmy, muttering about Global Britain.
Even as I scribble, those Titans, Ben Wallace & Liz Truss** are lecturing those naughty Russians on how to behave. Farcical is an understatement. Consummatum est!
(* Ancient Greek playwright known as the Father of Tragedy, 525c- 455c BC.)
(** Two deeply unimpressive Government ministers for US readers.)
That Liz Truss is a bit of a plank is something that I would agree with you on. But I’m going easy on her in terms of the meeting with Lavrov. Compared to him, more or less any other foreign minister in the whole world is going to look like a dwarf and just having the nerve to sit opposite him and set out your stall is more than any of us could ever do. We’re all nice and safe behind our keyboards and can afford to be clever. If I had to go and meet Lavrov, I’d cry the whole week before. That he mauled Truss probably just meant that she said what she meant, he disagreed and she didn’t roll over. Nothing wrong with that. I don’t believe it’s only the Goliaths in this world that can have a voice. The Davids and the demented pygmies can too.
There is much in what you say. Liz Truss is being sacrificed on the altar of British diplomatic conceit.
Lavrov & Co couldn’t give a jot about Britain and its posturing, and I’m surprised ‘they’ go along with this charade.
However Truss is a volunteer, nobody forced her to abandon the ironing board and head for the Commons, she did that of her own volition.
Roussinos for PM.
I agree and tell us how he is going to sort out our haemorrhaging NHS.
Excellent piece… the right seems incapable of understanding that it can achieve a massive majority by restoring freedom of speech, eliminating its faux obsession with racism, LBGT, and all woke… and becoming a carbon copy of a lot of Switzerland cum other tax havens..
Hear, hear, and in particular that Racist rubbish.
Was there ever such a travesty of justice as that George Floyd* nonsense? $27 million payout to a habitual criminal and serial drug abuser, whilst the killer cop’ of Capital Hill walks free!
Yet I have heard a supposed Tory SPAD almost wet his pants over this, squealing but he did say “I can’t breath,I can’t breath………….”
However I must caution you that the land of William Tell performed quite badly during the Scamdemic. Those German genes will always out, even if not quite as badly as Austria, the ‘Home of H*tler’ has done..
(* Incidentally he was a mountain of man, 6’6” & 16 stone, less one ounce.)
All just a little trite and lazy. They all failed, like they always do, if only they were as clever as me on the sidelines. Johnson and Cummings found it easier and more lucrative to throw brickbats from out there too. And a third of a century after she left office, Thatcherism apparently “vastly accelerated the state’s decline”. Oh for the British state to be as healthy as she found it in 1979. But perhaps a “Corbyn of the right” will save us. Jesus wept.
With you all the way Aris until I read the phrase Zombie Thatcherism; a phrase emblazoned on the banners of the Blob.
I strongly recommend you read Peter Hitchen’s view of Thatcherism. His central thesis is that, aside from a core few years in the early part of Thathcers time, it has been a zombie ideology shambling around. Major couldn’t change it, Blair copied it, Cameron couldn’t move away from it.
It’s an ideology that is firmly set in 1979/1980 and, for all its merits and negatives, simply doesn’t have a role to play anymore. The fact the Tories (and Labour to an extent) are so married to it is the shock here.
I don’t believe Boris was ever capable of clearly identifying the Blairite social agenda, let alone having the determined capacity to sweat the detail of reform.
Boris never ever thought of taking on the Blairite State. He never even promised to reform it. He was always comfortable with the Blob and the woke London worldview. That was the revolutionary agenda of the Robespierre of Brexit – Cummings. Covid panic saw Boris sucked into jaws of the Blob. There is Zero chance of him leading a radical reform agenda. He and Rishi have to focus on clearing up the mess created by them bowing knee to Net Zero and Hard Lockdown and the super empowered deranged clerisy driving these hysterias. Outside of outliers like Frost, are there any credible thinkers and movers who see the world as clearly as Ari?? I don’t see them.
OMG I’ve been thinking exactly this for ages. He was handed an 80 seat majority by a hopeful public (who, to my eternal pride, stood up to the forces saying no your vote doesn’t count you plebs) and could have really made a difference. What an absolute waste. It makes me really angry he seems to have taken this responsibility so lightly and squandered it so fruitlessly, giving his enemies all the ammunition they needed. Countless unforced errors, putting too much faith in Cummings, too much bluff, too much ego. Such a shame because in many ways I think Boris has excellent instincts and a keen intellect. He has a way of connecting with people, humour is not always appropriate but it IS a powerful tool and he has it in spades. He is never scared to get stuck in and make a bit of a prat of himself, this is endlessly endearing because I honestly don’t think it’s fake. But like Trump I think his need to be liked sways him too easily from the hard decisions. I think his instincts to resist lockdowns were spot on (how many times did he get criticised for being too soft and too late?) – but when the media and the opposition are calling you a granny killer and all your peers on the continent seem convinced that draconian measures are not only needed but desirable, it is hard to resist. He is no Trump, but he is no Churchill either.
I suspect Churchill would have made a similar mess of Lockdown.
Although a keen advocate of Bomber Command during the war he was quick to abandon it at the end when he sniffed the winds of criticism.
Chamberlain would have been a far better bet to have rejected Lockdown, for the traditional British policy of ‘nihil facere’ – do nothing. Having entered politics at the age of 50 he had not been infected with political disease, unlike both Churchill and Boris.
The author must be joking about Josh Hawley. There is a dearth of “actual” leaders in America. Our politics is no longer rewarding competence in governance. Its clicks, its outrage and its about raising tons of cash from the “angry”. Everyone in America is angry. Now, perpetually angry. We are a sea anemone, closing in ourselves. Forget that the Uyghurs are experiencing actual genocide and forced slavery. Now our multi millionaire footballers and coaches are living a plantation hell. We no longer have any idea what real hardship is, what real racism is.
As for Brexit, I’m not sure that we here in America so not have a cabal of internationalists working against Britain. Angry for the withdrawal from the EU. Why don’t we have trade agreement between our two countries? I find it very odd. I made a comment a few ago in another newsletter that one day America will wake and say “oh my god” we are now Britain. Our American Empire is slipping, it is likely ending for same reason all Empires eventually fall. Lack of will. America no longer has any interest in being the worlds preeminent economy or military. We’d much rather fight over whether biological males can compete against women, which bathroom they can use and the mendacious “make the rich pay their fair share”. A bunch of hooey that doesn’t concern the CCP one wit. In other words we don’t want to solve problems we just want to argue about them.
One of the best UnHerd articles ever! Roussinos’s analysis is spot on, especially his observations regarding the two-bit polytechnics now, thanks to Blair, churning out thousands of disaffected drones to feed the grievance-industrial-complex, saddled with debts for degrees that no-one in the real world is remotely interested in. No wonder they’re all so bloody miserable!
Very good article, Aris. Always enjoy reading your work.
Do you see any politician in Britain world who could stand up and take on this bitter NGO/HR/media/academic transferiat class and improve the lives of ordinary people with some sort of national development plan?
There is an increasing class conflict between the class of people who do productive work-bus drivers, nurses, plumbers, HVAC technicians, truckers, engineers, doctors-and this growing parasite/managerial overclass.
Aris, there are many words to describe Trump, but one of them certainly is not…lazy. The man is a workaholic and frequently outpaced the younger reporters, who pestered him like gulls flying over a child with a sack of chips.
This article is overly pessimistic. I wouldn’t write him off just yet. This is a man who prorogued Parliament, which was over turned by the Supreme Court, going on to win a 80 seat landslide majority. Delivered Brexit, has been blown off course by Covid which no one predicted, somehow I think he’ll come back from this. Labour have an open goal, but keep hitting the cross bar having adopted woke.
I enjoyed this very much. Thank you. However if he falls, it will not be petty covid rules that bring him down, but his continuous disconnect with truth.
Although I am quite sceptical of this because we’re not there, we only get to hear what happens filtered through the MSM, whom we know have an agenda of their own. Maybe they think if they just keep screaming liar liar liar eventually everyone just accepts it as unambiguous truth
What an article. Wow. Brilliant work.
Of course Boris squandered his opportunity – it was always going to be so, as forseen by many who knew him. However he is not being brought down by trivia but by his attention to trivial things. If he were a statesman with a vision and competence things would have been very different. He will stay in office for longer only because the Tories do not have a statesman to replace him.
The lack of vision and competence affects everything the government touches. Brexit was driven by a visceral hatred of EU bureaucrats and wishful thinking of what the UK could be when freed from them when it should have been driven by a plan to achieve something. Jacob Rees-Mogg founded the European Research Group and now is reduced to asking readers of the Sun to tell him how they would like to benefit from Brexit. Instead of claiming unshackled world leadership the UK is the object of ridicule. No politician has grasped the conundrum of Northern Ireland and the EU. The negotiations with the EU have been bluster and bullying, now applied ineffectually to Russia.
Hard to believe that Johnson wrote a biography of Winston Churchill – Winnie would be turning in his grave. What happened ?? Great article thanks muchly !
Forget comparisons between Boris and Trump. This hogwash is conceited intellectual irrelevancy. Boris’s Net Zero subsidy driven energy policy directly raises the cost of energy sky-high through decreasing investment in Oil & Gas and is the primary cause of today’s escalating inflation. It makes all our heavy engineering and manufacturing industries uncompetitive, loses 100’s of thousands of jobs while our Auditor General states that “the costs of NET Zero risk puts our spending out of control”. None of this reduces Global Warming whatsoever and only demonstrates that Boris is simply the latest and by far the worst of a long list of utterly incompetent Prime Ministers that got us here.
The Climate Change Act, labelled a “Monumental Act of Self Harm” should be repealed, and all renewable subsidies should be immediately cut to the renewable industry since its fraudulently promised derisory performance levels amount in practice to a colossal breach of contract on a grand scale. Following this we can proceed to a full open and informed and uncancelled debate on the questionable extent of CO2 on our Global climate and wake up to play China at its own game by sensibly getting back onto affordable and reliable Gas, Coal and later Nuclear power generation.
Excellent article summarising Boris’ failure despite being handed the mandate he needed to succeed.
Great piece. Nailed it entirely.
This article was totally spoilt by all references to Pres. Trump. Trump did an incredible job of managing the USA during his presidency when the opposition was continually manufacturing a myriad of lies and hoaxes. To put Trump and Johnson in the same sentence is the epitome of poor political analysis. Your commenters appear to be of the same opinion (by absence). The Macron/Johnson discussion was more apropos.
As always Aris your articles are the highlight of Unherd. Britain is in a truly sorry state. It is entirely unreformable, we are doomed to the slowest of declines whilst people like Boris bloviates about “wokism” out of one side of his mouth whilst pursuing an Islamophobia investigation in his own party based entirely around the Equality Act of 2010.
I asked a friend the other day to look and find the ambition and will-to-power in both the Government and Opposition. To a man (and woman) they were all Middle Management types, here to do their bit to manage the decline and make a fat stack of cash at the same time.
I don’t really agree with all of Cummings’ positions but blow me down was it refreshing to actually see someone in No.10 that wanted a New Machine to be installed.
The Great Man of History theory has been debated ad nauseum but it’s fair to say that there is a definite Mediocre Men of History going on in the UK right now.
Two moinths ago Johnson was riding high. The end of Covid was in sight. he made one mistake: he considered that Owen Paterson had been treated to a Stalinist lynch mob trial, then backed down by a wall of righteous indignation. That was the signal that he could be torn to pieces. We are living through a lynch-putsch where whoever shouts LIAR loudest gets most attention. Its a Goebbels spin and is an attempt to blow the UK apart so that the UK creeps back hands on knees to the EU. Its also done most obviously in conjunction of the Rejoiner lobby and Brussels.
He made a mistake over the Patterson affair (as did Patterson), but that was not the cause of his current problems. I would put it down to three things:
-he has earned intense dislike by fervent Europhiles, who often mistakenly believe that he alone was responsible for the referendum result,
-he harboured an adviser in his innermost circle who, on ejection, is intent on revenge at any cost,
-he has lost the political support of many who are bitterly disappointed that once in power with a large majority, he then meekly followed most of the policies of those who went before, namely May, Cameron, Brown, Blair, Major etc..
This article suggests repeated behaviour of breaking the rules they set as ‘petty’ is completely and utterly disrespectful to the many people including myself who lost loved ones to covid at the start of the pandemic. My dad was in hospital dying with covid at the same time Johnson. This partygate think is not in the slightest bit trivial. I hope the author of the article reads this. You have totally not captured the mood of the country, everyone I speak too (including tories) are embarrassed by this holder of the highest office. It will lead to time in opposition for the tories but I agree with your comment about a movement taking place to the right of the tories, I suspect around climate change and questioning net zero
Agree this is the best from Roussinos in ages. And I am really hoping that there is a competent minister of State reading this who still believes it is possible to deliver what we all so want and need. And I also hope that that minister willing to take on this mantel, surround himself with others who are competent and experienced, and for want of a better phrase, get the job done!
The point about ‘the petty restrictions’ is the fact that Johnson is willing to be a cheerleader for policies he does not believe in, because he is more motivated by his ambition to be a powerful leader, than to promote any beliefs or principles he holds. In the case of both Brexit and the pandemic he went against his own instinctive beliefs, and followed the public mood rather than trying to shape it.
Great and perceptive article. Cummings and Blondie both have great gifts, but – in Greek tragic mode – their character failings and weaknesses have got the better of both of them. Cummings thinks he’s above everyone. Not socially perhaps (although his father-in-law is an eccentric baronet who owns a medieval castle in Northumberland), but intellectually, which is always a mistake, because the clever people who get important stuff done (like Clement Attlee) are humble, not arrogant like Cummings. Boris – well, we all know him by now. He dines out on his character flaws. Still, in spite of those, someone cooler and more mature than Cummings at his right hand could have got the job done.
Very good on the “blob”, as well and on Tugendhat, who is basically super-ambitious.
I think it’s likely that the Conservative Party is incapable of taking on the challenges that need to be faced. Too many of its MPs are ideologically on the left, like Boris with his deranged commitment to Netzero. It will take a leader with strong beliefs and the confidence to stand up to the opposition, within and outside his party and in the media.
The United States found such a leader in Donald Trump and the opposition he faced from establishment forces demonstrate the kind of opposition a British prime minister can expect. The left will do anything to get their way, including destroying the country and democracy itself.
Another fantastic Roussinos Article, echoes my thoughts entirely. The sooner Johnson goes the better. We might yet get out of this mess if we have the leader who understands what needs to be done and can endure the hysteria of the Liberal class and their useful idiots on twitter. Alas the possibility is remote. What a waste of a golden opportunity.
Internationally we have CANZUK, and a pivot to the East. That has was made more possible than it might have been otherwise by Brexit, which Boris and Dom masterminded. The Brits have given more weapons to Ukraine than almost any other nation. These might be limited achievements, but they are clear and significant.
You want to fault Boris domestically? OK. You want to indulge in childish catastrophism far beyond reality, ignoring the things Boris has accomplished? Please don’t. Let’s have some nuance please.
Oh, and let’s all drop the “no ideas, no vision” rubbish. All politicians have a vision. It may not be your vision, and it may not be the right vision, but a green economy with better infrastructure is a vision.
Push net-zero back a bit, invest in small modular reactors, keep people aware of the latest advances in fusion this month, and we can even get that “green” economy the blob wants so much.
A green economy with better infrastructure is actually quite a good vision – but where is the evidence that the Boris actually believes in it – let alone will do anything serious to make it happen? More likely it is what he thinks will make him liked this month, and will be U-turned away the moment he needs to placate a different group of backbenchers – or gets a new girlfriend.
No it is not it is a deluded, naieve, internet vested interest driven faux sandaloid religion
I wonder if he sees great business opportunities for Britain as we do well in R+D in this area
We had a world beating Arm Holdings… Chip manufacture extraordinaire. And then that woman who loves her Country so much Theresa May sold it to the Japanese. I agree we have great R&D and then the Politicians get involved.
A green economy is one which is built on Nuclear Power. Any government that pursues a green agenda without that front-and-centre is talking out of their backside.
+10000000000000
Spot on Geoffrey! It seems weird to downplay what has been achieved in the face of the pandemic.
People seem to forget that Boris and Frost negotiated the UK/EU FTA during 2020. Before COVID it was received wisdom that this negotiation would take years. As it turned out, despite the Kent variant surging, France blockading our ports and a cancelled Christmas, Boris got it done in less than 12 months.
Then in 2021 we rolled out probably the world’s most successful vaccine programme. We were one of only two countries to design, test, manufacture and distribute an effective vaccine. In turn this led to us unlocking faster than almost any country and (bar “plan B” in December) keeping the country moving. Today we learn that 2021 GDP was 7.5% – higher than any G7 rival.
I would also add AUKUS to the list behind which Boris was certainly a prime mover.
On top of those things, there is some good legislation in the pipeline (and some that I am less happy about).
Like you, I also get irritated by the constant catastrophism. Inflation is spiking but it will surely fall as the supply chains heal. NI has gone up but the Covid spending was monstrous and need to be paid for. I don’t see wars as being more likely than before – despite Russian sabre-rattling. Global warming forecasts of doom are about as believable as those of virologists!
Don’t kid yourself we ended up with a poor deal because of the speed it was negotiated at. But Johnson does not do detail. It will take years to sort out the missing bits and the whole deal will be jeopardised over the NI protocol, which although described as oven ready by BoJo will if not sorted out, lead to constant friction in NI.
The EU never negotiated in good faith. Getting it over the line, quickly, was essential. Trade deals get revisited and renegotiated all the time, the fact the EU loves to carp on about never changing treaties says more about their mindset. They wanted to box us into a corner and keep us controlled, they didn’t manage it but they are trying their damndest to. They still are. For example, the constant headlines about the City and EU swaps. The USA has a long term agreement on this already (and they are not in the EU, never have been and do not even have a FTA) and banks are saying they might switch to the US rather than the EU if London is stymied – why would the EU play such a game? Because the EU does not want us to succeed. This is a blatant singling out of the UK that is entirely unnecessary and I am amazed the WTO doesn’t step in.
Exactly Cheryl. I well remember the usual suspects arguing that we should delay the negotiations because of COVID. If we had and were still at it, those very same people would be using the imminent defenestration of Boris as a means of halting the negotiations. The best option was to do it quickly. Northern Ireland and everything else will be sorted in the same way – make our red lines clear, take it to the wire and the EU crumples.
Matt.. what the vaccine taught us is that no one outwits the Americans and that one initial case of a rare complication with the vaccine was enough for the Americans to withhold approval whilst their own vaccines came on stream. To date it is still not approved in America. Longer than a week it was held up in Britain.
“Johnson’s downfall by petty Covid rules highlights a central problem”
That problem being that it was Boris Johnson, or his government, who devised the rules which is why his position is now unsustainable.
Otherwise it is an excellent article which explains in a nutshell why I won’t be voting Tory again.
It’s easy to be downcast and, whilst I enjoyed the article, Boris might be reeling somewhat – who wouldn’t following the past two years – but I do not buy the argument that he is a “great blond beast stumbling to his doom”. Sure, “partygate” was a great lesson on how one’s public image can be shredded but, in reality, the transgressions were not that great, consequently I believe that they will fade before very long.
Going forward he certainly needs a Head of Strategy who can get a cogent, costed and practicable action plan for the next twenty years, for that is the timescale we need to think in if this country is going to fire on all cylinders.
Love a bit of prolix grandiose hyperbosity (my coinage for a mix of hyperbole and verbosity. Do not misread as hyperobesity please). Thus the writer and Johnson have much in common. Ironically and sadly the phrase ‘Johnsonian prose’ is now born of Boris not an 18th century white English author like Samuel, now unread amongst current woke English graduati.
I’m sorry to say the article could only hope for resurrection after dying on the cross of “surely it’s not too late to write Boris Johnson’s political obituary”. You would think commentators who have the need to make these predictions would have learned some humility from the pronouncement that we’d reached the end of history. He then does a good job of describing why it really shouldn’t be the end of Boris Johnson and to my mind completely buried the initial statement.
It may well be that these petty things are so annoying that they will spell his end, but I believe the Conservatives will appreciate it should be for the electorate, not the MP’s or commentariat such as Mr Rousinnos, to decide. The electoral results of leaders selected by their parties rather than the electorate, have been so universally dismal, and the quality of the leaders so poor, you might think there’s a chance they will have learned that, however unpopular a democratically elected PM might be, they are preferred by a pragmatic and proud electorate, to one imposed on them by people that think they know better than they do what’s best for them. So, no Mr Rousinnos, it surely IS to early to write Boris Johnson’s obituary.
Question? Is Roussinos the best journalist around today? Not only does he rally his facts, not only does he construct cogent arguments, but he crafts them into prose which flow more easily from the page into my mildly-dyslexic head than almost any other.
Even when I don’t agree I am thankful for having read it.
Thanks Aris
Yes. Why it was not Conservativism’s top priority to repeal the Human Rights Act is beyond understanding (unless of course the Conservatives have become such intellectual weaklings and moral cowards that they could not think of, or put forward, the good arguments for demolishing that Act).
Yes. Why it was not Conservativism’s top priority to repeal the Human Rights Act is beyond understanding (unless of course the Conservatives have become such intellectual weaklings and moral cowards that they could not think of, or put forward, the good arguments for demolishing that Act).
Aris is pretty spot on with this analysis, except possibly that Johnson is so fundamentally unserious (apart from fancying a stint as ‘world king’) that he makes Trump by comparison look like a hard working reformer with a long term plan!
Thanks Aris. You must have taken some powerful medicine in Ukraine because this is brilliant. Your third paragraph in particular.
Or maybe I just like it because it articulates what I have been thinking and couldn’t find words for. But I never had much hope in Johnson. I was surprised that he stuck to his guns on Brexit and pushed it through, but then the real work had to begin, starting with Northern Ireland. There is some good work being done to upgrade border protocols there but the Irish side is hampered by EU membership while UK leadership has lost its way.
Thanks Aris. You must have taken some powerful medicine in Ukraine because this is brilliant. Your third paragraph in particular.
Or maybe I just like it because it articulates what I have been thinking and couldn’t find words for. But I never had much hope in Johnson. I was surprised that he stuck to his guns on Brexit and pushed it through, but then the real work had to begin, starting with Northern Ireland. There is some good work being done to upgrade border protocols there but the Irish side is hampered by EU membership while UK leadership has lost its way.
Back to 1997 – yer? A political commentator complaining about too much politics …?
Programme.
Nothing like a bit of anticipatory grief before a political death occurs is there ?
Britain’s political system is not broken, though people like, “wet behind the ears ain`t I a clever d-ck” ,Aris wish it was…
“Zombie Thatcherism”… he does not know what Thatcherism was… just hops in with the some juvenile descriptor he has picked up from left wing historically amended propaganda…
As to the Orange Monster — Aris, there are far worthy targets for your youthful, naive and often silly contemptuousness.
i am amazed how folk fawn over the scribbles of good old Aris. Aris, the scribe who spurns a word of plain English in favour of diatribe of over intellectualised mumbo jumbo. He has no crystal ball, he just concludes that, what he so dearly wishes for will come true, but it probably will not, it usually does not.
Jeez complete rubbish.
Not worth subscribing for this hyperbolic nonsense which I can get at the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail.
Box set…too much Boris is Boring.
The whole idea that one person is in charge at the top of a heirarchy is what is broken.
It was a human invention, having warlords as “kings” and only maintained by violence.
It’s been a redundant idea for a very long time now and the overwrought emoting when the latest king you have set your heart on is not an infallible god is a bit pathetic.
Most decisions are made by difficult negotiating with many participants.
Who the figurehead is seems only to be a focal point for allegiance as if we are still medieval peasants needing a man draped in gold to dazzle us.
Please move on, your valentine just isn’t that into you.
An excellent summary. But Johnson was only ever really concerned for his own career and personal peccadillos. Now he has handed us all over to the EU, the ‘woke’ academics, the technocrats and time-servers. The revenge of the establishment will be savage.
Chance? What chance? A lazy entitled posh boy.
Good article aside from the nonsense about Trump. Trump was the most successful president in decades because he stood up against the left. Boris should have done the same.
Writing as a casual outside observer, I was originally an admirer of him but now believe he is another Harry Markle holding his wife’s purse while she creates a schedule of his day.
Johnson could never have ‘saved’ Britain. On the contrary, he has played a big part in actually destroying Britain’s sense of nationhood and its international reputation. Rarely has there been better example of an anti-patriot, so against Britain’s (all of Britain, not just England’s) interests leaving the EU has been. His naked opportunism alone in 2016 won it for the Leave campaign, which of course is why he is worshipped, still.
You bet he deserves to go ignominiously.
Surely leaving the EU enhanced Britain’s international reputation.
I can’t see how.
We knew that a large portion of the country was not happy with being in the EU so we legislated for a referendum, had six-months worth of debate and took a vote. The result was clear, we terminated our membership and negotiated a new relationship with the EU.
This level of mature, democratic decision-making is extremely rare and precious and we should all be proud of our part in it.
Sure it has been messy and no doubt looked terrible to foreigners – if that is what you mean by destroying our international reputation – but it is no less extraordinary for that.
In the final analysis, it is our international reputation as a sovereign democratic nation that matters and it is surely enhanced by demonstrating that we respond to the will of our citizens.
You mean – when you evaluate your international reputation you should first of all ignore what the foreigners think?!?
Ha ha – maybe I didn’t explain myself very well.
What I mean is that no matter how much the antics of the Remainer Parliament of 2017-19 tarnished Britain’s reputation for stability and order abroad, it is as nothing compared to the enhancing of our reputation as a democracy by demonstrating we are one of the few countries with a working democratic process.
Compare our Scottish Independence referendum to Spain locking up Catalonians or our EU referendum to the multiple referendums on the EU constitution in Ireland or the fates of Italy or Greece when they tried to confirm their sovereignty.
We are a beacon for self-determination. Funnily enough I saw Tucker Carlson making the same point about Brexit last week and there is no bigger influencer of “international reputation” than America’s most watched journalist.
I follow your logic, however the fundamental problem was the 52/48 is not and never will be a clear decision 60/40 would have been, but the margin was always small.
Tell that to Joe Biden.
With sincere respect Matt, this is too easy. Obviously we cannot re-write contemporary history but with what we have just seen: the attitudes and actions of the principal actors, it is hard to feel comfortable with the outcome.
Though I hurled 100s of brickbats at Nigel Farage, at least the man had integrity. Cummings’ and Johnson’s vile cynicism and lack of care made them both worthy of the chop, in my view. Johnson has a ‘good hand’, a reprieve, for now – lucky once more. But Justice must see that he is ruined politically and reputationally at some stage.
I am not a ‘remoaner’, simply someone of that age where being part of the EC/EU was just accepted as a reality, a background to my working life, from 16 in 1976, onwards. I will admit the 2004 Accession did cause some consternation, but weighing it up in 2016, the disruption and grief very likely to occur to many people, was not a price worth paying to vote leave.
Of course the result was ‘clear’ (indeed, that is where I agree with many leave voters – had the result been the other way round, the winning Remain side would never ever have conceded to a second referendum) but it did not reflect a widespread sense of being ‘oppressed’ by an evil foreign ‘reich’, which some of the more crazed Brexiteer elements tried to portray. As we can see, almost half of us were apparently content with the situation, quite aware of what actual oppression is.
With regards our international reputation, issuing from this ‘Brexit’-‘Global Britain’-branded government has come Overseas Aid budget cut, carelessness over relations with Republic of Ireland and agitating France for starters.
It only ruined our reputation because daring to leave the political entity called the EU has been portrayed as ‘Britain are Nazis’ by the remainder establishment who simply could not tolerate the hoi polloi making a choice they didn’t like
At this point I don’t think it has, but I think at some point in the future people will look back and consider it forward thinking. But that is probably still a way off.
It may have, however the signing a Treaty which according to Cummings was open for future repudiation did not.
Trade deal not Treaty. But even treaties should be adjustable.
Had it been done in a statesman like way, maintaining a respectful relationship with Europe and building new relationships perhaps, but it did not and it will need someone very different from Johnson to accomplish that.
Britain’s interests are to be an independent nation who trades freely with their neighbours in Europe. Becoming a region of the United States of Europe, ruled from Brussels and losing the concept of being Britain at all would seem to me not to be in Britain’s interests either…
France is no less ‘France’ by being part of the EU. England, with poor self-esteem needed to howl like a demented wretch. ‘England’ is pathetic.
James – have you been to France lately? If not, I can tell you it is far less “France” than it used to be. Amongst other things it has imported awful out of town shopping centres and house building techniques which have nothing to do with the French way of life – it is every bit as bad as in England. But the difference is, outside the EU, we in Britain do have a chance to reassert our own identity – though I’m not holding my breath as everyday more Bits are replaced by immigrants and it is rather unlikely they will ever feel “at home” with a Britain defined by 1066 and 1815 and 1945.