Boris Johnson has the gift, vital for success not only in journalism but in politics, of seeing what the story is, and knowing how to dramatise it. Almost 30 years ago, he made his name as The Daily Telegraph’s Brussels correspondent by seeing that the story, so far as he and his readers were concerned, was the attempt by Jacques Delors, president of the European Commission, to drive forward the process of European integration. Johnson reported that Delors’s henchman, Pascal Lamy, “runs the upper echelons of the Commission like a Saharan camp of the French Foreign Legion”, and lamented that British officials are “limp-wristed” and “impotent” by comparison: “With their shy grins and corrugated-soled shoes, they are no match for the intellectual brutality of Lamy and his stooges.” Johnson today sees that the story, so far as he and his supporters are concerned, is Theresa May’s failure to make a success of the Brexit … [Read more...] about Opinion: After Salzburg Theresa May’s leadership is weaker than ever, and Boris Johnson has cunningly positioned himself as her antithesis
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Once again, Boris Johnson demonstrates his dubious grasp of history
Once again, Boris Johnson has fulfilled his new role of providing the Daily Telegraph with Monday morning splashes. Once again, relying on his time-honoured tactic of using flowery language rather than any discernible alternative plan to attack Theresa May’s Brexit strategy. The latest target for his ire is the EU’s ‘backstop’ proposal for the Irish border. In his latest column, Johnson say says this “would mean that for the first time since 1066 our leaders were deliberately acquiescing in foreign rule”. As some opponents seized on the column as another example of Johnson’s opportunism, others suggested that the former foreign secretary’s grasp of history had left him exposed. On Twitter, the columnist Nick Cohen had the former foreign secretary banged to rights. He wrote: “Harold didn’t acquiesce in 1066. Rather famously he fought a battle at Hastings. Can’t he get anything right?” Alas it’s not the first … [Read more...] about Once again, Boris Johnson demonstrates his dubious grasp of history
Boris Johnson summons the spirit of Churchill in Washington DC
Dominic Green 14 September 2018 8:03 AM 14 September 2018 8:03 AM Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Email Whatsapp Boris Johnson landed in Washington, DC on Thursday evening just ahead of Hurricane Florence, and leaving far behind the attentions of the British media, which over the last week have shown more interest in Johnson’s amicable divorce than his less than amicable campaign to replace Theresa May. In town to accept the Irving Kristol Award at the American Enterprise Institute’s annual black-tie dinner, Johnson gave a self-deprecating, self-asserting explanation of why a US-UK free trade agreement was an ‘opportunity’ for the United States. This implies that Theresa May is pursuing the wrong Brexit strategy, and that he, like Churchill after the wilderness years, is the man of the hour, the only Conservative politician capable of keeping Labour out, steering a G7 state out of the EU’s regulatory net and into global trade, … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson summons the spirit of Churchill in Washington DC
Trump and Boris Johnson have no beliefs beyond a lust for fame and power
My friends and I disagree over Boris Johnson. Some think he’s just an irritating idiot. Others think he’s an evil, calculating, irritating idiot. There’s often heated debate. There are some things in the world you just have to tune out of before you drive yourself mad. Donald Trump is the obvious one. You’ll absorb so much before you find yourself saying, ‘Actually, if I listen to or think about this madman for one minute longer, I’m going to go properly insane.’ Like last week, when he warned his fellow Americans the incoming hurricane was going to be “tremendously big and tremendously wet”. That’s right – the elected leader of the free world telling people that rain was wet. Mind you, half of his followers probably genuinely didn’t know this. It’s the same thing with Johnson. And you’ll notice that, like any decent person, I refuse to call him Boris. It drives me absolutely mad that he’s … [Read more...] about Trump and Boris Johnson have no beliefs beyond a lust for fame and power
Opinion: Why you should care about Boris Johnson – but not what he’s doing in his bedroom
Frankly, I don’t give a damn about Boris Johnson’s purple personal life. What he gets up to in the cabinet room is much more important than what he gets up to in the bedroom. But his personal life is today the focus of some media attention, the “political significance” of which is duly weighed and speculated upon, to much sucking of teeth and sonorously delivered verdicts. Yes, Johnson's allotted role is, it appears, to add to the gaiety of the nation. We can all have a laugh. Yet it is inappropriate. There is human misery involved. This is also, so far as I can tell, the story of a family being torn asunder, its privacy invaded once again by the press, with all the unhappiness that will add to the circumstances. Johnson’s family didn't task for this or give permission, yet they are caught up in it. All to give readers of The Sun, and supposedly the rest of us, a giggle at the plight of dear old Boris. None of it matters. Long after Johnson has repaired … [Read more...] about Opinion: Why you should care about Boris Johnson – but not what he’s doing in his bedroom