Boris johnson

Boris Johnson was slapped down by Theresa May yesterday for his comments about Saudi Arabia. And the Foreign Secretary earns himself a similar rebuke in the Guardian this morning. The paper describes his remarks as ‘plain speaking without a purpose’ and says that ‘he frequently shoots from the hip or goes off half-cocked’. It warns that while speaking out of turn as a columnist could be ‘embarrassing’, now the ‘potential consequences are far graver’. But if so, why is Theresa May still tolerating Boris? In the eyes of the Guardian’s editorial, it’s because the PM thinks that ‘a cannon that misfires so often is less dangerous in front of her than on the benches behind her’. But how long will the PM's patience persist?

In what sense does anyone actually disagree with what Boris Johnson said about Saudi Arabia and Iran? Does anyone actually think that his observation that they are both engaged in 'puppeteering' in Syria and Yemen is not only true, but understates the seriousness of the problem? Does anyone believe the Foreign Office when it says that Mr Johnson’s remarks do not reflect the position of the Government? Now I know the argument, viz, that Saudi Arabia is an important and very sensitive ally and the way to deal with its sensitivities is to make criticism in private, which is what, we are invited to believe, Theresa May did when she visited the Kingdom.

In the autumn statement, Philip Hammond chose to mock Boris’ failed leadership bid. This wasn’t the first time that one of the Foreign Secretary Cabinet’s colleagues had had a laugh at his expense. At our parliamentarian of the year awards, Theresa May joked that Boris would be put down when he was no longer useful. But Boris and his circle are getting rather fed up with him being the butt of the joke, as I say in The Sun today. Those close to Boris feel that these gibes undercut him on the world stage. 'If they want the UK to be taken seriously, they need to back him not mock him’ one close ally of his tells me.

Spare a thought for Michael Gove. While his fellow Brexiteer Boris Johnson's leadership campaign came to an abrupt end thanks to Gove challenging him, in the end it was the former mayor who found himself in the Cabinet and Gove who ended up on the backbench. Now it seems that Boris has had the last laugh once again. The latest register of interests shows Gove is earning £150,000 a year for his Times column. In comparison, Johnson's Telegraph column earned him £247,000 a year. Well, at least Gove has a book on the way to help make ends meet.

As the government 'consider' inviting Donald Trump for a state visit, the president-elect was top of the agenda at today's Foreign Office questions. With the Westminster establishment riled over Trump's latest tweet claiming Nigel Farage would make a 'great' UK ambassador to the US, Simon Burns hit back -- suggesting Boris Johnson return the favour and request Trump send Hillary Clinton to fill the role of US ambassador to the UK. Continuing the theme of putting people forward against their will for jobs that either aren't available or don't exist, Labour's David Winnick said that it was Brandon Dixon -- the Hamilton actor who made an anti-Trump speech over the weekend -- who ought to become the 'unofficial ambassador' from the United States to Britain.

In the run-up to the referendum, the Treasury warned that unemployment would rise by half-a-million. Today, this prophecy comes in for criticism in the papers following yesterday’s news that the number of Brits out of work had tumbled to an 11-year low. It’s not only Project Fear which gets a hard time in the editorials though. The moaning ‘anti-Brexit mob’ are also criticised - while the Guardian savages Boris Johnson for making a ‘fool of himself’. The Sun launches an attack on the moaning ‘anti-Brexit mob’ in its leader this morning, saying that it seems that the better the economic outlook since the referendum ‘the louder the caterwauling’ from those unhappy with the result.

I am honoured to be invited to present these awards. Thank you very much for taking me out of my unemployment. When I read the Spectator front cover on the eve of the referendum, I thought it was advice on how to vote: ‘Out - and into the world’. But it turned out to be career advice to me. And of course, normally these annual awards are presented by last year’s winner of ‘Politician of the year’, David Cameron. And it’s another example of where he’s disappeared and left me holding the baby. I wanted to support the Spectator magazine - a brilliant weekly compendium on the arts, on politics, on society. Yours for only £4.25 - or $4 because of the policies of the Spectator.

As was widely expected, the Government has backed plans to expand Heathrow. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the decision to approve a third runway is 'truly momentous'. In a statement released moments ago, he said: 'I am proud that after years of discussion and delay this government is taking decisive action to secure the UK’s place in the global aviation market – securing jobs and business opportunities for the next decade and beyond.' This morning's news isn't much of a surprise, with the Prime Minister signalling last week that she favoured choosing Heathrow over Gatwick, in a decision that matches the Airport Commission's recommendation. So what happens now?

I would like to think that the lack of obvious progress on negotiating a post-Brexit deal with the EU is, as Theresa May said this week, part of a strategy – that there is a lot going on behind the scenes but it is not in our interests for the Government to give a ‘running commentary’ on it. But listening to the foreign secretary speaking before the Commons foreign affairs committee I am beginning to wonder. Maybe, actually nothing is going on. Top of Boris’s ‘to do’ list, it seems, is not securing trade deals with the world beyond the EU. It is securing himself a royal yacht on which he can then swan around the world - perhaps doing a trade deal or two on the way.

Although little was agreed upon in yesterday's debate on Aleppo with regards to a no-fly zone, one thing the Foreign Secretary did suggest was that the public stage mass protests outside the Russian embassy. What's more, Boris Johnson queried just why the Stop the War coalition had failed to do this as of yet. So, why has the anti-war group -- formerly chaired by Jeremy Corbyn -- refrained from getting out on the streets to protest Russia's actions in Syria? Well, because they are not the West -- obviously.