Boris johnson

Thursday

Paul Dacre

Diary – 25 July 2019

So the party of family values has chosen as leader a man of whom to say he has the morals of an alley cat would be to libel the feline species. Thus the Tories, with two women PMs to their credit, have achieved another historic first: scuppering the belief — argued by the Daily Mail in my 26 years as editor — that politicians with scandalous private lives cannot hold high office. I make no comment on this, or about the 31-year-old minx who is the current Boris Johnson bedwarmer, but ask you instead to spare a thought for Petronella’s abortion, Helen’s love child, Marina’s humiliation and her four children’s agony.

Toby Young

If you want a Boris backer, book me

The changing of the guard at 10 Downing Street always creates opportunities for the commentariat. I don’t just mean it gives them something to talk about for the next week or two; it also provides a chance for reinvention and renewal. Suppose you have been a relentless critic of Brexit for the past three years, convinced the British public made a catastrophic mistake. You’ve been pushing that line day in, day out, whether reviewing the papers for Marr or as a panellist on Politics Live. And let’s face it, you’re a little bit bored of hearing these same arguments coming out of your mouth. Well, the good news is, you

Mary Killen

Your problems solved | 25 July 2019

Q. It was 10 p.m. by the time the canapés appeared and by then it was already too late. The well-oiled guests, including many old friends, were not drawn from the widest gene pool; many of the men had been to ‘school’ and there was a large Oxbridge contingent, of which I was one. I was doing my best to amuse an attractive woman while my wife’s back was turned when the spouse of a well-known Guardian journalist cut me off mid-flow. ‘You’ve come up!’ she declared, apropos of absolutely nothing. ‘You’ve come up a long way, haven’t you?’ It is true that I grew up in an unfashionable part

Steerpike

The top five moments from Boris’s Commons debut as PM

Theresa May’s clashes with Jeremy Corbyn were usually dull affairs. Now that Boris Johnson is Prime Minister, Mr S. is looking forward to some livelier bust-ups in Parliament. Boris didn’t disappoint in his first encounter with the Labour leader. Here are five of the best bits from Boris’s government debut: Corbyn’s ‘terrible’ Brexit ‘metamorphosis’: Boris wasted little time in going for Corbyn over his mixed-up Brexit position, accusing him of undergoing a “terrible metamorphosis” from “long-standing Eurosceptic” into reluctant Remainer. Boris said the change of heart matched Corbyn’s “turgivisating career”: Boris on Corbyn’s mullah chums: Boris also took a pop at Corbyn over his paid appearances on Iran’s Press TV. He

Brendan O’Neill

The anti-Boris demo was a screech of middle-class rage

Last night’s ‘F**k Boris’ demo in London really was an extraordinary spectacle. It felt almost historic. For what we had here was a gathering of radicals raging against a new Tory PM for threatening to upend the political status quo. Yes, these supposedly edgy, rebellious, pink- and blue-haired haters of Conservatism were essentially pleading with Boris not to be so revolutionary. It was bizarre. There may have been music and dancing and weed — the soulless whiff of that deadening drug was everywhere — but this was fundamentally a conservative protest. Small-c, natch. It was a plea to keep Euro-technocracy intact and not to cave in to the demands of

The Spectator

Full text: PM Boris’s first speech in the Commons

Mr Speaker, I with permission, shall make a statement on the mission of this new Conservative Government. But before I begin, I am sure the whole House will join me in paying tribute to my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Maidenhead – for all that she has given in the service of our nation. From fighting modern slavery to tackling the problems of mental ill-health – she has a great legacy on which we shall all be proud to build. And our mission is to deliver Brexit on the 31st of October for the purpose of uniting and re-energising our great United Kingdom and making this country the greatest place on earth. And

Steerpike

Seven of the most hysterical reactions to PM Boris Johnson

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already delighting his supporters, but not everyone is happy about Britain’s new leader. Boris’s first speech in Downing Street and the Cabinet bloodbath that followed has led to a fair bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth, not least on Twitter. From independent group MPs and David Lammy to the New York Times – and even a popular children’s author – PM Boris is a prospect that is filling some with horror. Here are seven of the most hysterical reactions to Boris’s big win: Mike Gapes: Alt-right is a ‘far-right, white supremacist, white separatist, anti-immigration and sometimes anti-Semitic movement’, according to Wikipedia. So Mr S. thinks

Katy Balls

Coming soon: Boris Johnson’s tour of the union

When Boris Johnson stood in the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre and gave his victory speech, he spoke of his DUDE strategy for government: 1. Deliver Brexit; 2. Unite the country; 3. Defeat Corbyn; and 4. Energise the country. When it comes to step two, Coffee House understands plans are afoot to action an attempt to unite the country by putting Boris Johnson on a whistle-stop tour of the union. While the details are yet to be finalised – including at what point this summer – the idea is that Johnson will shortly visit England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Johnson’s Brexit plan means that he has been accused by critics

The Spectator

Boris’s Cabinet: who’s in and out?

A day on from Boris Johnson’s brutal Cabinet clear out, the PM is appointing junior ministers tonight. Here is the full list of who’s in, and who’s out so far: Who’s in: Sajid Javid, Chancellor of the Exchequer Priti Patel, Secretary of State for the Home Department Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State Stephen Barclay, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (continues role) Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence Liz Truss, Secretary of State for International Trade Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (continues role) Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Work

Dan Hitchens

Johnson & Johnson

To understand Boris Johnson, you have to understand the figure who has inspired him, shaped his worldview and accompanied him throughout his career. Admittedly Samuel Johnson has been dead since 1784, but his importance to Boris is unquestionable. Our next prime minister thinks the other Johnson is a ‘genius’ who ‘gave the world compassionate conservatism’. Britain, Boris once wrote, ‘has never produced an author with a better or more generous understanding of human nature’. It’s not just that Boris admires Samuel’s essays, his poetry and the pioneering Dictionary of the English Language. The influence goes deeper than that. When asked about offending everyone from Muslims to Scousers, Boris regretted hurting

Martin Howe

Best of three

With Boris Johnson finally in No. 10 we now have a prime minister who says he is committed to Britain leaving the EU on 31 October, deal or no deal. According to popular wisdom, the only way of avoiding the latter is for the government to negotiate a modified version of Theresa May’s deal, perhaps with the removal of the hated Irish backstop, or at least with a more easily digestible version. But these are not the only two options. As Boris hinted during his leadership campaign, only to be unfairly cut down, there is a third way. May’s deal is based on a withdrawal agreement (WA) negotiated under Article

James Forsyth

The Boris show

Boris Johnson’s first 100 days will make or break him — which is what makes his premiership unlike any other. In his favour is his ability to rally support in the country; against him the realities of a hung parliament. How will he begin? It’s already clear that Boris Johnson intends to be an unconventional prime minister. His personality is such that he’s likely to eclipse all else in government. This is going to be the Boris Johnson show. Supporters and critics alike will be determined to keep him in the spotlight. He won’t change his style now that he has got the top job and privately, he is dismissive

Katy Balls

Lib Dem success may be the Tories’ best hope

When the leadership result was announced, Jeremy Corbyn’s keyboard warriors swung into action. Behold, they said: a new party leader whose track record involved overseeing years of austerity, voting for tax cuts for the super-rich and pursuing a neoliberal agenda. As for Boris the man, the Corbynites didn’t seem to mind him so much. It’s Jo Swinson, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, who is enemy number one. The Labour fear — and the Tory hope —is that the current Liberal Democrat resurgence continues and Labour loses seats in the North to the Tories and metropolitan seats to the Lib Dems. Under Nick Clegg, the Lib Dems were a

Wednesday

Noah Vickers

‘Britain’s new nadir’: How the world’s papers reacted to Boris’s victory

Love him or hate him, Boris Johnson is big news. His victory in the Tory leadership race – and imminent appointment as Britain’s next PM – has filled newspapers around the world this morning. Brexit aside, it’s rare these days for British politics to make the front pages of papers outside of the UK. But Boris is something of an exception. From the United States, to France, Italy and Spain, here is what the world’s press makes of prime minister Boris. Across the Atlantic, the New York Times warns that the Brexit situation has escalated into a ‘nightmare’ and that Johnson’s ‘policy swerves, lack of attention to detail and contradictory

James Delingpole

Ministers of Sound: why this is the best Cabinet for years

This really ought to be called the Ferrero Rocher cabinet: truly with these appointments the Prime Minister is spoiling us. Sure I’ve got the odd quibble – Amber Rudd, for example, seems far too closely associated with the values of the discredited old regime to be welcomed back into the fold so soon; and I’d really been rooting either for Liz Truss or Jacob Rees Mogg to become Chancellor. But really this is nitpicking. Not since Margaret Thatcher, I doubt, has there been quite such an overwhelmingly sound Cabinet. Indeed, I’m not sure that even Maggie herself managed to accumulate such soundness around one table when she first became PM;

Nick Cohen

Boris is a weak man posing as a tough guy

Boris Johnson is taking over the Conservative party like a gangster taking over a crime syndicate. Don’t let ideological labels mystify you. “Remainer,” “Leaver”,” “no dealer” – these are just words to confuse the credulous and stop them seeing their country clearly. Power is the only word that need concern you. Power, rather than ideology, is what runs together resignations and sackings, which have seen at least a dozen ministers go – a number that makes Harold Macmillan’s ‘Night of the Long Knives’ look restrained. Penny Mordaunt and Liam Fox were – and to the best of my knowledge remain – ardent Brexiters: Fox, indeed, was campaigning for Britain to

James Forsyth

Jeremy Hunt’s big risk

Jeremy Hunt’s refusal to take the job of Defence Secretary means that for the first time since 2001, the runner up in the Tory leadership contest won’t serve on the winner’s front bench. Hunt’s decision not to take the job of Defence Secretary is not without risk for him. Many Tory members and MPs regard it as one of the best jobs in government so deciding that it is essentially beneath him won’t go down well with everyone. The first half of this reshuffle has been brutal, 17 departures from the Cabinet—11 forced. This is a dangerous strategy given that the government’s working majority in combination with the DUP is

James Kirkup

Can the Tory party survive Prime Minister Boris Johnson?

Some thoughts on the arrival in office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, based on his first speech, his first appointments and some conversations with people in different parts of the Conservative party and Whitehall today.  These are not all my own predictions; some belong to others. But they’re under my name, so I’ll be happy to answer for them when – and if – they’re proven wrong: 1. A no-deal exit from the EU is much more likely than financial markets currently imply, and much more likely to become the de facto object of UK government policy Johnson’s speech gave him very, very little room for manoeuvre over Brexit. As

The Spectator

Watch: Boris Johnson’s first speech as Prime Minister

Boris Johnson has just delivered his first speech as Prime Minister. On the steps of No.10 Downing Street, Boris hit out at ‘doubters…doomsters (and) gloomsters’ as he pledged to take Britain out of the EU by October 31, ‘no ifs no buts’. ‘The buck stops with me,’ he said. Here is the full video: And here is the full text of Boris’s speech: Good afternoon. I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen who has invited me to form a government and I have accepted. I pay tribute to the fortitude and patience of my predecessor and her deep sense of public service but in spite of all

Isabel Hardman

‘Never mind the backstop, the buck stops here’: Boris launches his premiership with domestic focus

Boris Johnson has just given a rather urgent-sounding, fast-paced speech in Downing Street. So fast-paced, in fact, that it almost appeared he was in a hurry to catch a train. He of course promised to deliver Brexit by 31 October, but the bulk of his statement was in fact focused on what he wanted to do on domestic policy. He did so using typically tangible promises, telling voters that ‘my job is to make your street safer’, that ‘my job is to make sure that you don’t have to wait three weeks to see your GP’ and ‘my job is to make sure your kids get a superb education’. He