We all know that Boris Johnson is far from bright - indeed as anyone burdened by the names Alexander Boris de Pfeffel would have to be. He has a gift for words and their sometimes obscure meanings but seems quite unable to translate this into sentient thought, like a simple artisan constantly polishing and oiling his huge range of expensive tools but totally unable to make anything useful with them.
His latest fascinating outburst is the condemnation of the PM for accepting the backstop in last year's Joint Report. The London Evening Standard (HERE) reports:
"Mr Johnson said it was 'now completely obvious that the government made a dreadful mistake' in bowing to the EU’s demands for a special backstop deal to avoid a hard border in Ireland after Brexit".
This is the government of which he was a senior member and it isn't quite what he said last December when the problem with the backstop was perhaps not as "completely obvious" although plenty of commentators pointed it out at the time:
Congratulations to PM for her determination in getting today's deal. We now aim to forge a deep and special partnership with our European friends and allies while remaining true to the referendum result - taking back control of our laws, money and borders for the whole of the UK.— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 8 December 2017
Next week Boris is to warn about the route the Titanic took and propose a more southerly course avoiding the risk of meeting icebergs which are prevalent in the north Atlantic that time of year. There's nothing quite like the Johnsonian hindsight is there?
He now says the problem with the backstop is the EU insisting having on the same regulations on each side:
“The fatal error was not to challenge the EU’s position that the only way of avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland – an objective we all share – is for Northern Ireland to have the same regulations for trade as Ireland and the rest of the EU".
The complete absence of self awareness with this statement is stunning. If it really was possible to avoid a hard border but still have different regulations for trade either side of it, almost every hard border in the world could be scrapped tomorrow. The fact that this is not happening anywhere is proof that it can't be done.
The other week Phillip Hammond, in a side swipe at Bojo said he was unable to engage with the details and we can see what he meant. He was happy to congratulate Mrs May on getting a deal last year when he hadn't read or understood the detail, but now it's "completely obvious" that it was a mistake.
Yes, but we pay people like him to get to grip with the details and not make "dreadful mistakes".
Yes, but we pay people like him to get to grip with the details and not make "dreadful mistakes".
