21 September 2017

Boris Like Marmite

A shambles, a clever tactic or an unacceptable, disloyal attempt at a power grab?

By Lynda Goetz

Boris does seem to have the same effect on people as Marmite – you either love him or hate him. His 4,200 word ‘speech’, actually delivered as an article in the Saturday Telegraph, has had repercussions ever since and resulted in varying headlines and much commentary. Should I really be adding to this? Well, since I neither qualify as an economic expert, nor as a seasoned political commentator, the answer is probably not, but with alternatives like London Fashion Week (about which I feel even less qualified to comment) or ‘snowflake’ students and identity tags (simply depressing), I couldn’t resist.

I will confess that without knowing the man at all, and having heard him speak only once, I am a fan. Yes, he is a man with a large ego; a man prone to terrible gaffes; a totally fallible human being. However, he is also brilliant; he clearly has a great sense of humour and (of particular importance in this context) is a great patriot. Patriotism is on the whole regarded as a very passé sort of sentiment; it is the sort of thing we can admire in those who fought in the two world wars, but has little contemporary resonance in this era of globalisation. Nevertheless, pride in one’s country is not something to be sniffed at. It is glue which binds people on a scale above that of family and local community. Around the world it is a force for good as well as evil. It is what makes people want to compete for their country in the Olympics; not just for themselves, for their own sense of self-worth and personal triumph, but for something greater. In the same way, Boris, for all his ego, believes in Britain. After thinking long and hard about Brexit (the cynics say because of how it would affect his own political career; his supporters claim because of his loyalty to David Cameron and George Osborne) he came out in favour. Although there are several people who can be said to have made Brexit happen (and again for all his faults and his detractors, Nigel Farage is of course right up there), there is little doubt that one of them was Boris, which does surely give him a certain standing in terms of how it is brought about?

Theresa May is also patriotic, but she was a Remainer. Although she has thrown herself into ‘making Brexit work’, she appears much less convinced. Obviously, since the disastrous June election she has also had to tread much more carefully, but the people who support her, those she relies upon, are also in the ‘fearful’ camp. They are terrified that in spite of their best efforts, Brexit is going to be a disaster for Britain; that it is going to be the beginning of a long-term decline. All their dealings with the EU seem to betray this fear, and the EU bureaucrats in charge of dealing with our politicians can smell that fear. Boris Johnson’s view, possibly rather ‘Tiggerish’, was by contrast upbeat, confident and refreshing amongst all the gloom-laden doom-mongering that once again seems to have seized the nation.

These are without doubt crucial and pivotal times in the history of this country and as things stand at present it feels as if we could go either way. Boris’s intervention, disapproved of from many sides, including former Tory chancellor and arch Europhile Ken Clarke (unsurprising) and the chairmen of Tory Associations (more surprising) was, perhaps, the only way he had of getting his point of view heard at a time when he was being massively side-lined by the Prime Minister. Perhaps he should have remonstrated behind the scenes, tried to put his point of view quietly to the PM and her closest advisors privately? Rather like David Cameron’s attempts to move the juggernaut that is the EU, this was probably doomed to failure. Cabinet met whilst Boris was doing his stuff as Foreign Secretary in the Caribbean following Hurricane Irma, and Eurosceptic Cabinet Ministers were increasingly concerned that not only were Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s views on a lengthy transition period winning the day, but also his argument for a Swiss-style settlement with the EU, which would result in continued payments into the EU budget and the acceptance of a significant degree of free movement. This not only defeats the main objectives of leaving, but almost leaves Britain in a worse position than being ‘at the table’.

Knowing that the Prime Minister was in Canada in the early part of the week and that the following days were taken up with the UN Assembly in New York, time was not on Boris Johnson’s side if the Eurosceptic view was to have any input in the PM’s Brexit speech in Florence coming up on Friday. Although he and the PM are staying in the same hotel in New York, there seemed little chance of private meetings and it even appeared at one stage that Boris had not been included in a reception for the Commonwealth – in spite of being in charge of the Foreign and Commonwealth office. It is therefore arguable that, in spite of Boris’s article being completely outside the normal parameters of acceptable Cabinet behaviour, he was ‘a desperate man taking desperate measures’. Whether one believes this was out of self-interest or out of patriotism, it does seem to be the case that by freezing him out so completely Theresa May had left him with few options. His gamble appears to have paid off, since headlines today (Wednesday) suggest that a compromise has been brokered, at least for now. No payments will be made after 2020. The Chancellor, the Brexit Secretary David Davis and the Foreign Secretary will now all accompany Mrs May to Florence for her speech intended to break the deadlock over talks. Would Boris have been prepared to let high office go if necessary? No doubt with a wry smile on his face and a flippant remark, even if beneath it all his large ego was raging at the injustice of life, the universe and Fate.