Boris Johnson's Valentines Day Massacre
Today Boris Johnson has set out his vision for Brexit. While nominally an attempt at uniting the country behind Brexit, it is in reality an embarrassingly transparent bid to become Prime Minister.
The main issue with the idea that he is seeking to unite the country is this: everything he has said, is saying and will most likely say in the future.
This is the man who failed to become PM last time there was a Tory leadership contest because he got caught in a backstabbing contest with Michael Gove - and that's only what happens when he's dealing with friends who share basically the same views.
Johnson's speech is yet another act in the Tory party civil war on Europe and in his personal quest to become PM. Far from being a letter of love to disparate parts of the country, what we've heard today was another salvo directed at rivals in the Tory party, more reminiscent of the 1929 Valentines Day Massacre than any act of romance.
If this is truly an act of unity, designed to bring together Leavers and Remainers in a common vision for the future of the country, then why are only the hardlines Brexiteers lined up to give speeches? Where are the visions of Hammon and Rudd, hardly ardent europhiles anyway, in this Road to Brexit?
Indeed, why give any speeches at all when we know that the cabinet has repeatedly failed to agree on what exactly the UK should seek to gain from Brexit, from trade to Ireland to immigration? Even May, still notionally the Prime Minister, is limiting her speech to just security cooperation. How could this be anything other than a statement of Johnson's personal ambition?
This speech is not bereft of strategy though. The strategy is quite clear, it's just not designed for the country's future. The strategy at work is unsurprisingly a cynical one. Though it obviously fails in its stated ambition of unifying the country, it's what Tory party members think a unifying speech sounds like - that is where the success lies. The speech achieves the twin objectives of repeating the anti-EU slogans and ideas that Tory members adore, whilst appearing to take the moral high ground. It offers the perfect combination of moral smugness and ideological purity. How could a Tory party member say no?
Johnson's speech is nothing to do with a "liberal Brexit", the very term being oxymoronic, it's about telling Tory party members that they can vote for him without having to compromise on any front. The perfect middle ground between moderate Tories who may (*gasp*) compromise with pro-EU groups and seek an actual middle ground from the referendum result and committed Brexiteers who are clearly unpalatable to most of the public (Rees-Mogg). The option of "having your cake and eating it" always an intoxicating proposition when choosing a party leader and Johnson clearly believes it could tip him over the finishing line.
To this egomaniac, the practical realities and consequences of Brexit are just problems for another day.
The main issue with the idea that he is seeking to unite the country is this: everything he has said, is saying and will most likely say in the future.
This is the man who failed to become PM last time there was a Tory leadership contest because he got caught in a backstabbing contest with Michael Gove - and that's only what happens when he's dealing with friends who share basically the same views.
Johnson's speech is yet another act in the Tory party civil war on Europe and in his personal quest to become PM. Far from being a letter of love to disparate parts of the country, what we've heard today was another salvo directed at rivals in the Tory party, more reminiscent of the 1929 Valentines Day Massacre than any act of romance.
If this is truly an act of unity, designed to bring together Leavers and Remainers in a common vision for the future of the country, then why are only the hardlines Brexiteers lined up to give speeches? Where are the visions of Hammon and Rudd, hardly ardent europhiles anyway, in this Road to Brexit?
Indeed, why give any speeches at all when we know that the cabinet has repeatedly failed to agree on what exactly the UK should seek to gain from Brexit, from trade to Ireland to immigration? Even May, still notionally the Prime Minister, is limiting her speech to just security cooperation. How could this be anything other than a statement of Johnson's personal ambition?
This speech is not bereft of strategy though. The strategy is quite clear, it's just not designed for the country's future. The strategy at work is unsurprisingly a cynical one. Though it obviously fails in its stated ambition of unifying the country, it's what Tory party members think a unifying speech sounds like - that is where the success lies. The speech achieves the twin objectives of repeating the anti-EU slogans and ideas that Tory members adore, whilst appearing to take the moral high ground. It offers the perfect combination of moral smugness and ideological purity. How could a Tory party member say no?
Johnson's speech is nothing to do with a "liberal Brexit", the very term being oxymoronic, it's about telling Tory party members that they can vote for him without having to compromise on any front. The perfect middle ground between moderate Tories who may (*gasp*) compromise with pro-EU groups and seek an actual middle ground from the referendum result and committed Brexiteers who are clearly unpalatable to most of the public (Rees-Mogg). The option of "having your cake and eating it" always an intoxicating proposition when choosing a party leader and Johnson clearly believes it could tip him over the finishing line.
To this egomaniac, the practical realities and consequences of Brexit are just problems for another day.
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