August 7th, 2022 / Leave Feedback / nezuppal

Oh how it was only a month ago that people seemed to be celebrating the end of the Boris Johnson’s era, as he announced his “intention” to resign. As an article I wrote exactly a month ago outlined, this was never an official resignation. Nor was it a signal that Boris wanted to leave politics.

The man needs to be in the limelight, he needs to be seen, he needs to be adored. And thanks to a never-ending stream of media and millions upon millions of Boris fans, he will get to choose his moment to leave. And this is not it.

I am no fan of Tony Blair, but many will remember in his final PMQs speech in 2007 he displayed a level of grace and diplomacy that Britain had been lacking since he launched his illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003. However, leaving that to one side, Blair’s final words during Prime Minister’s Questions to Parliament were moving, profound and entirely suitable for someone leaving such an important role in for such a long time. He said at last, and with almost a tear in his eye, “To all my colleagues from all of the different political parties. Some may belittle politics but we know, who are engaged in it, it is where people stand tall. And although I know it has its many harsh contentions – it is still the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster. And if it is on occassion the place of low skullduggery, it is more often the place for the pursuit of noble causes. And I wish everyone, friend or foe, well. And that is that. The end.” Met with a standing ovation from both sides of the House.

For all his mismanagement, his lies, his enemies, he still left the highest office in the country with dignity and respect. By this point, his party had begun to hate him, those around him had begun to conspire and eventhough he held a strong majority – he knew that his time was up. And so he resigned. This is not to say Blair held the office with any special dignity or treated it any better than those who had preceded him; in fact, he probably disrepected the role of Prime Minister and the Houses of Parliament more than any other leader in history. Except one.

Boris has nothing but contempt for the British people. He has no respect for the role of Prime Minister.  Attending those weird Downing Street parties (really, who wants to party with those over-grown prefects. I bet Jacob-Rees Mogg really knows his way around a 7 minute anechdote about paint drying). As wild and fun as I am sure these parties were, they were still illegal.

A further quick list – the Rwandan deportations, a vote of no confidence, two massive by-election losses, soaring inflation, a hike in interest rates, a hike in national insurance, mounting strikes from TFL which will soon spread to other working sectors (just believe me, it will), a cost of living crisis, a widening gap between the rich and the poor which is almost comparable to Dickenensian times, as one commentator posted. And Boris’ final words?

“Hasta la vista, baby.”

Are you joking? Your final words in Parliament are a quote from the Terminator? After all the mess, lies and fear you’ve created, those are your final words? Without a second of remorse or even an attempt to regain some form of bipartisanship … is it because you knew they wouldn’t be your last words in Parliament?

Directly translated “hasta la vista” does technically mean goodbye, but is usually said with a note of “see you later” or “I’ll see you again”. But I don’t think we should get bogged down in the direct nuances of what Boris said; half the time I don’t think he even knows what he’s saying so let’s put that to one side. There’s a possibility that studying his final speech may become like studying Shakespeare at school, endlessly analysing The Bard’s use of the word “red” until you drove yourself mad. By the way, Shakespeare described blood as “red” in Macbeth because blood is bloody red! But I digress.

A better way to judge Boris’ plans, and most people’s to be fair, is to look at the surrounding context, look at their past actions and then apply that to potential future contexts you can see coming. Let’s apply this.

Firstly, the context surrounding Boris’ “resignation”. It is essential that we understand that Boris has not resigned. He is still our Prime Minister; but as I said in a previous article, he is not an idiot. He plays the idiot.”All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” as Shakespeare once famously wrote. (If only my English teachers could see me quoting the playwright now! Not that I’m still holding that grudge.)

To be quite honest, I don’t think Britain has really experienced a politician like Boris Johnson before. A man who not only knows when to seize an opportunity and run with it, as he did with Brexit as everyone around him was calling him mad. He saw the opportunity as a win-win. And it was.

But more importantly than seizing opportunities as they immediately arise, Boris also knows when to step back into the shadows if necessary and let others take control. After the Brexit vote, surely a Brexit-supporting politician should have immediately stood. Whilst Boris was essentially “stabbed in the back” by Michael Gove at this point, he did not cry or kick up a fuss – allowing the media to do this for him. But rather than this being an honourable act of stepping aside to let the better man stand (if you think Michael Gove is a better person than you just give up, genuinely just give up).

He did not even complain when Theresa May won the election, by the slimmest of margins, despite the fact that she was a Remainer. This was because Boris knows how to play the game. It was obvious, or seemingly so, that whoever took over as Prime Minister after David Cameron would face an incredible challenge over seeing Brexit through. And while all the Tory MPs rushed to get their names on the ballot, Boris potentially knew that his time would come later.

Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, Boris’ plans did work out. Theresa May did make a mess of things, she did nearly bring the Tory party down and it was only due to the divided nature of the Labour party, coupled with the in-fighting over Jeremy Corbyn, that the Tories managed to stay in power.

Boris did then see an opportunity to strike, as the Labour party was unimaginably weak at this point. He led the bid and was successful – as a lot of people forget how immensely popular he is amongst the Tory membership. And, whilst the Tory members may share 3 brain cells between them, their voting powers are very strong when deciding who the next leader of the party will be.

Context. So whist everyone is clamouring to find out who the next Tory leader will be. *Sigh*. Will it be the well-informed, tax dodging criminal? Well … apparently he “stabbed Boris in the back”, according to many Tory party members, because he refused to work for a criminal…

But guess what? There’s no honour amongst thieves. Learn it the hard way. Or the next Prime Minister could be Liz Truss, who is possibly the most incompetent politician I have ever seen.  I am being entirely objective when I say Liz Truss is not fit to be the Prime Minister. That is not sexist. I feel the same way about Rishi Sunak too, as he is a criminal, but at least he is knowledgeable about the current situation of the country. But anyway, who knows who will win. The Tory members will let us know the bad news soon enough.

Rather more interesting than who will win out of those two losers. They are doomed to be one-term PMs as there is no way they can continue to lead the country without massively raising taxes, tackling the Unions and solving the housing crisis – a competent PM could not acheive this. Either one of these overgrown children could not and will not be able to do it, even if they had the best ministers around them and not a who’s-who of political ineptitude.

But who comes after that? If we assume that Labour will continue with its in-fighting and Starmer as their leader then I think it’s safe to assume they do not pose a threat to the Tories’ massive majority.

Increasingly, there have been demands within the Tory party for Boris to return. There are even reports that the PM has discussed and even broadly outlined a plan for his return. Indeed, a leaked report from one of his close aides suggests that Boris has gone so far as to say that he wants to be back as Prime Minister within a year. It really is incredible and, unfortunately, I cannot tell whether this manouvre is too far or whether he’s just a step ahead of every political commentator there is, as he has been throughout his career.

I’d imagine the former. Boris has been in politics long enough. As the famous Bible saying goes, “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”. Or maybe that’s Batman. Nevertheless, even as I write this there is a slight worry that Boris may be toying with us, yet again. His claims of returning to government, the fact that he hasn’t disappeared to become some millionaire adviser like Blair, Cameron, Clegg all have done is interesting to say the least. He has the option to ride off into the sunset with millions of pounds to sit with – but he isn’t. Why? Don’t tell me it’s out of some patriotic duty he must feel. Give it a rest.

But with over 8,000 Conservative Party Members signing a petition calling for Boris to be put back on the ballot paper, people should be concerned. Boris’ tenure has led to a failed Brexit, with strains on relations with Europe, the USA and the rest of the world as Britain seeks to isolate itself further. Added to that, the lies, the crimes, the wasted money on COVID schemes. Even as I research this article I come across new information that Norway could cut power to Britain, compounding the effect of the predictions that the UK’s energy prices are expected to jump by 70% in October.

Boris’ tenure has been marred by such headlines. And whilst the next PM will definitely be either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss, don’t expect either to be around for long. In fact, don’t expect much from either of them – the situation will get worse before it gets better.

But “Hasta la vista baby” ??? All we can do is hope we never see you again Boris. Hope beyond hope.