Johnson's speech in Downing Street yesterday was more or less a vacuous re-run of the one given by Theresa May three years ago before the harsh and unforgiving reality of Brexit ground her into submission. It was delivered in Johnson speak, with added brio and finger jabbing plus a few of the odd linguistic fancies which he is given to and was replete with the sunlit uplands and extravagant promises we last saw in June 2016. All that negotiating with the EU has completely passed him by.
He tried to convince himself that not only were all the lies he told true, if anything they understated the 'benefits' of Brexit. He even managed to claim the £39 billion would be withheld in the event of a no deal Brexit, something his own Attorney General has said would be illegal, while talking about creating "a new partnership with our European friends – as warm and as close and as affectionate as possible". There must have been some head shaking in Brussels.
By appointing Dominic Cummings, who masterminded the leave campaign and invented the £350 million a week claim, he made it clear he is going to double down on everything. Cummings wears division like a campaign medal. This article by John Crace from April 2016 tells you all you need to know about him. Cameron called him a 'career psychopath'.
All I can say is that with Cummings in the opposite camp, I know for sure I'm on the right side.
All I can say is that with Cummings in the opposite camp, I know for sure I'm on the right side.
The cabinet reshuffle that came later has been described this morning as a shock and awe event. His ministerial team is now made up of the incapable, the inept and the incompetent overseen by Johnson himself, a man who doesn't do detail or even self awareness, all guided by the psychopath Cummings. This is the sorry state we have come to.
PM Johnson 'ruthlessly' swept aside virtually all of May's
old cabinet like a purge of the politburo in Soviet Russia. Anyone with
suspect views, in the opinion of Mr Cummings I presume, had to go and be
replaced by the faithful and the malleable. Hence we now have Priti 'bring back hanging' Patel as Home Secretary and Dominc Raab as Foreign
Secretary. It is truly a government of all the talentless.
Liam Fox, who seemed to be undergoing an epiphany at Trade and getting to grips with how difficult trade negotiations are, is being replaced by Liz Truss who knows nothing at all. Never mind the details, 'belief' will get her through. Sajid Javid, a small man who seems to become smaller by the day, gets The Treasury. Gove who was apparently making progress at DEFRA is Chancellor of the Duchy of Lacaster, Liddington's old job, and the so-called cabinet enforcer.
Liam Fox, who seemed to be undergoing an epiphany at Trade and getting to grips with how difficult trade negotiations are, is being replaced by Liz Truss who knows nothing at all. Never mind the details, 'belief' will get her through. Sajid Javid, a small man who seems to become smaller by the day, gets The Treasury. Gove who was apparently making progress at DEFRA is Chancellor of the Duchy of Lacaster, Liddington's old job, and the so-called cabinet enforcer.
All have been required to sign a pledge that they will take us out on 31st October, something which is totally impossible. I really don't know if he (or indeed any of them) believes it or not.
The whole thing has the air of how the journalist in Johnson thinks government ought to work. You almost imagine him in Downing Street in idle moments pushing buttons to see what happens like a bored teenager. I hope he hasn't got the nuclear codes yet.
DO NOT FORGET - not one of them has the foggiest notion what they're doing.
Brexit was the brainchild of a small group of extremists in the Tory party and outside it. They were never a majority. Having worked for years to get a referendum, won by a very narrow majority, this fanatical group persuaded first Mrs May and now Johnson to implement the hardest possible version of Brexit. Farage has been a constant presence in this endeavour, heaving the Tory party ever rightward.
But now, from being a small, noisy, well-organised cabal on the back benches, the hard right is the government itself. Johnson is probably more hostage than prime minister.
Nick Boles, the former Tory MP tweeted:
The takeover that started in local constituency parties is now complete. The Brexit Party has won the war without electing a single MP. Boris Johnson isn’t our new Prime Minister; Nigel Farage is. 2/— Nick Boles MP (@NickBoles) July 24, 2019
There is truth in what Boles says. Farage got his wish without ever becoming an MP - think about it.
That other Nick, Nick Cohen writes in The Spectator that the reshuffle wasn't the action of a strong man but a weak one. He might have muted any dissent in cabinet but, "he has chosen this moment to enfeeble a weakened government by dispatching embittered colleagues to the backbenches, where they have personal as well as political motives to bring down the tottering structure".
We remainers have been fortunate that our opponents have been totally incompetent hitherto and with the election of Johnson, we have got even luckier.
Johnson's self-made problem is that because the extremists are now mostly government ministers, the back benches are packed with moderate rebels. Last week saw 17 Tories vote against the government and thirty more abstain on a three line whip. There are now plenty of ex-ministers who will swell the ranks of the disaffected, ready to make trouble for Johnson's government at every turn. Johnson has never been popular with MPs but he has increased his enemies immeasurably by his actions yesterday, bringing another vote much closer.
I used to think a no-deal Brexit was impossible to contemplate for any responsible prime minister and I still do, but the new cabinet will push it dangerously close to the wire. Over the next few weeks we will be in something akin to a trial of strength or a high-stakes poker game where there can only be one winner and we all know who it will be, all that is except the losers.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, a Telegraph columnist who knows Johnson and followed him as their Brussels correspondent advises him not to bluff the EU because they will certainly win. The only options in his opinion are either to go to Brussels and conspire with them to betray the ERG or aim for a quick trade deal with Donald Trump and go for cutting ties with Europe. He admits the latter option would cause 'creative destruction' to the British economy - with the destruction bit coming first, so high risk to say the least.
The European parliament released a statement today from their Brexit Steering Group who had a meeting with Michel Barnier. It points out that the UK government itself has, 'agreed that the [Withdrawal] Agreement cannot be reopened' and steps us the rhetoric:
“The BSG notes that recent statements, not least those made during the Conservative Party leadership campaign, have greatly increased the risk of a disorderly exit of the UK. It points out that a no-deal exit would be economically very damaging, even if such damage would not be inflicted equally on both parties.
It commends the preparedness and contingency measures taken by the EU Institutions and 27 Member States in preparation for a no-deal exit, but stresses that such an exit will not be mitigated by any form of arrangements or mini deals between the EU and the UK. The BSG recalls that there is no transition period without a withdrawal agreement. It reiterates the European Parliament’s determination to ensure that, in a no-deal scenario, there would be no disruption for EU citizens in the UK or for UK citizens in the EU, whose rights should be fully safeguarded.”
We have had the sharpest minds in Whitehall working to find a solution to the backstop for two years and the EU have consistently been ten steps ahead of us. We are now about to set some of the bluntest minds to work on it. Don't hold your breath for a breakthrough.
It's clear from Johnson's speech yesterday that if the EU "refuses any further to negotiate and we are forced to come out with no deal not because we want that outcome – of course not -but because it is only common sense to prepare'' he intends to put the blame for the calamity squarely on Brussels. I should note here this is just the sort of tactic Adolph Hitler used to justify various invasions. He didn't want to do it but it was 'forced' on him by sovereign countries defending their own territorial integrity.
Although they would like to portray Brussels as the bully, what Johnson did yesterday was the action of the real bully. It was the Boris of Bullingdon Club fame, ready to torch the nation to get what he has promised himself. But don't worry about him footing the bill for the damage, he won't be doing that - you will.
The former Attorney General and the man to watch over the next three months, Dominic Grieve called Johnson a charlatan on live TV yesterday because of his "capacity for both deception and self deception".
InFacts thinks our chances of an election or a new referendum have increased and I agree. Taking a leaf from Johnson's playbook they say, "If we can put a man on the moon, we can certainly stop Brexit".
By being ruthless yesterday Johnson has now made sure the Brexiteers own Brexit 100%.
That other Nick, Nick Cohen writes in The Spectator that the reshuffle wasn't the action of a strong man but a weak one. He might have muted any dissent in cabinet but, "he has chosen this moment to enfeeble a weakened government by dispatching embittered colleagues to the backbenches, where they have personal as well as political motives to bring down the tottering structure".
We remainers have been fortunate that our opponents have been totally incompetent hitherto and with the election of Johnson, we have got even luckier.
Johnson's self-made problem is that because the extremists are now mostly government ministers, the back benches are packed with moderate rebels. Last week saw 17 Tories vote against the government and thirty more abstain on a three line whip. There are now plenty of ex-ministers who will swell the ranks of the disaffected, ready to make trouble for Johnson's government at every turn. Johnson has never been popular with MPs but he has increased his enemies immeasurably by his actions yesterday, bringing another vote much closer.
I used to think a no-deal Brexit was impossible to contemplate for any responsible prime minister and I still do, but the new cabinet will push it dangerously close to the wire. Over the next few weeks we will be in something akin to a trial of strength or a high-stakes poker game where there can only be one winner and we all know who it will be, all that is except the losers.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, a Telegraph columnist who knows Johnson and followed him as their Brussels correspondent advises him not to bluff the EU because they will certainly win. The only options in his opinion are either to go to Brussels and conspire with them to betray the ERG or aim for a quick trade deal with Donald Trump and go for cutting ties with Europe. He admits the latter option would cause 'creative destruction' to the British economy - with the destruction bit coming first, so high risk to say the least.
The European parliament released a statement today from their Brexit Steering Group who had a meeting with Michel Barnier. It points out that the UK government itself has, 'agreed that the [Withdrawal] Agreement cannot be reopened' and steps us the rhetoric:
“The BSG notes that recent statements, not least those made during the Conservative Party leadership campaign, have greatly increased the risk of a disorderly exit of the UK. It points out that a no-deal exit would be economically very damaging, even if such damage would not be inflicted equally on both parties.
It commends the preparedness and contingency measures taken by the EU Institutions and 27 Member States in preparation for a no-deal exit, but stresses that such an exit will not be mitigated by any form of arrangements or mini deals between the EU and the UK. The BSG recalls that there is no transition period without a withdrawal agreement. It reiterates the European Parliament’s determination to ensure that, in a no-deal scenario, there would be no disruption for EU citizens in the UK or for UK citizens in the EU, whose rights should be fully safeguarded.”
We have had the sharpest minds in Whitehall working to find a solution to the backstop for two years and the EU have consistently been ten steps ahead of us. We are now about to set some of the bluntest minds to work on it. Don't hold your breath for a breakthrough.
It's clear from Johnson's speech yesterday that if the EU "refuses any further to negotiate and we are forced to come out with no deal not because we want that outcome – of course not -but because it is only common sense to prepare'' he intends to put the blame for the calamity squarely on Brussels. I should note here this is just the sort of tactic Adolph Hitler used to justify various invasions. He didn't want to do it but it was 'forced' on him by sovereign countries defending their own territorial integrity.
Although they would like to portray Brussels as the bully, what Johnson did yesterday was the action of the real bully. It was the Boris of Bullingdon Club fame, ready to torch the nation to get what he has promised himself. But don't worry about him footing the bill for the damage, he won't be doing that - you will.
The former Attorney General and the man to watch over the next three months, Dominic Grieve called Johnson a charlatan on live TV yesterday because of his "capacity for both deception and self deception".
InFacts thinks our chances of an election or a new referendum have increased and I agree. Taking a leaf from Johnson's playbook they say, "If we can put a man on the moon, we can certainly stop Brexit".
By being ruthless yesterday Johnson has now made sure the Brexiteers own Brexit 100%.
