6 NEWS Politics
THE WEEK3August 2019Controversy of the weekWill he call an election?The last thing Boris Johnson wants, said Andrew Rawnsley in
The Observer, is to be another George Canning–the British
PM in the early 19th century whose term in office lasted just
119 days. But Canning had good reason for his early exit. He
died. If Boris calls an election before the end of October–the
day set for Brexit–and loses it, he’ll have no such excuse: he’ll
be “deposited in the dustbin of history as the fool who clawed
all the way up the greasy pole, only to almost instantly plunge
off it”. So it’s tempting to believe him when he swears he won’t
do it. ButIdon’t believe him. Deep down, he knows the EU is
not going to offer himabetter deal, and that Parliament, where
he “squats onatiny and evaporating minority”, will prevent
him leaving without one. The only way out of that impasse is
to alter the maths in Parliament by going to the country.He’d be takingahuge risk, said John Curtice in The Mail on Sunday. Yes, there’s sign ofaBoris
bounce, but the average of recent polls suggests that only one in four voters would back the Tories in
an immediate election. And though his hard-line Brexit stance will win back Tories who’ve switched
allegiance to the Brexit Party, he is, by the same token, unlikely to retrieve the one in ten who voted
Tory in 2017 and now say they’d vote Liberal Democrat. With the Lib Dems looking to regain many
of the seats they lost to David Cameron in 2015, and the SNP dominant in Scotland, the Tories
would“probably need to be on at least 33% before they even hadachance of winning an overall
majority”.And the unashamedly right-wing cabinet Johnson has assembled isagift to both the Lib
Dems and to Labour, said Stephen Bush in theInewspaper. Team Corbyn may be in electoral
difficulty, but it isless likely to lose Labour voters toapro-free market government led by the likes of
Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg than to one led by, say, Jeremy Hunt. Similarly, the message that
Jo Swinson, the new leader of the Lib Dems, can now send to voters in the many Tory-held seats her
party thinks it can win is that Johnson’s party isadifferent beast entirely to the one of Cameron, and
that “onlyastrong Lib Dem presence can bringareturn to sensible moderation”.But you have to grasp Johnson’s game plan, said Fraser Nelson in The Daily Telegraph. Every move
he has made so far is designed to show “rebel MPs that they can’t threaten him with an election –
because he wants one”, and is confident he can win one. He knows thataleader who “relishes
elections is less likely to be forced into one” before he is ready for it. The ministers he has chosen
aren’t reallyacabinetfor government. The Vote Leave team he has assembled in No.10 is there to
run two campaigns: “The first will be for Brexit”, as one insider explains, and “after 31 October, it
will morph seamlessly intoageneral election campaign”. Johnson may be taking “the biggest gamble
in recent political history. Butabig gamble on success is better than settling down to certain failure.”Canning:can Boris outlast him?Spirit of the ageGood week for:
Meghan Markle,who was invited to guest edit the September
edition of Vogue. The Duchess of Sussex decided not to appear
on the cover of the “Forces For Change” issue herself. Instead, it
has pictures of 15 female “change-makers” from the “front line of
fashion, film, tech and wellness”; and at the centre,ablank space,
withamirrored surface, to reflect the reader–and encourage
them to “use their own platforms to effect change”.
Trainer collectors,afterapair of Nike running shoes sold for
$437,500 at auction in New York, shattering the record. The
“Moon Shoe” was made for athletes at the 1972 Olympic trials,
and sold in Sotheby’s first auction dedicated to sneakers.Bad week for:
Instagram influencers,who were accused of cheating brands
out of millions of pounds by acquiring fake followers to falsely
inflate their worth. It has been alleged, for instance, that more
than half the followers of someLove Islandcontestants are fake.
Franky “Le Rocketman” Zapata,whose attempt to fly across
the Channel onajet-powered hoverboard ended in failure, when
he lost his balance as he attempted to land onasmall refuelling
platform, and fell into the sea. Zapata had aimed to whizz across
the Channel in just 20 minutes, flying at 87mph, 60ft above the
water. He plans to make another attempt this weekend.
Climate changer protesters,who chained themselves to the
wrong building in the City of London. The office they targeted
used to be occupied by the fossil fuel company Drax–but now
belongs to one of Europe’s leading renewable energy firms.Carl Beech sentenced
Carl Beech–the former
nurse who falsely accused
public figures of child sex
abuse, torture and murder –
was jailed for 18 years last
week for perverting the
course of justice and fraud.
At the sentencing hearing,
Mr Justice Goss said the
51-year-old, who is himself a
convicted child sex offender,
had “maliciously” lied to the
police, and had shown “no
remorse”. This week, Sir
Richard Henriques–the
retired high court judge
who in 2016 ledadamning
inquiry into the police’s
investigation–said police
officers should face
investigation for wrongly
claiming, when applying for
search warrants, that Beech’s
story was consistent.Priory clinics “unsafe”
Two mental health hospitals
run by the Priory Group have
been put into special
measures owing to concerns
about patient safety.
Inspectors reportedahigh
number of assaults among
patients at Priory Blandford,
Dorset, which cares for
under-18s. At Kneesworth
House in Hertfordshire, for
adults, some patients had
taken to wearing trainers to
bed to stop nurses waking
them up by jabbing their feet
with keys. The Care Quality
Commission has given the
facilities six months to
improve or face closure.Poll watch
Apoll by Opinium for The
Observer, conducted after
Boris Johnson became PM,
found that support for the
Tories has risen by7points
to30%since the beginning
of July. Brexit Party support
has dropped by the same
amount, to15%.Labour
support, meanwhile, is up
by three points to28%at the
expense of the Green Party.
AYouGov poll for The
Sunday Times, however, put
the Tories at31%,with aten
(rather than two) point lead
over Labour at21%.The Lib
Dems were on20%and the
Brexit Party on13%.94%of GPs say that short
appointment times put
patients at risk.37%believe
they have prescribed the
wrong course of treatment
owing to only being allowed
aten-minute consultation.
Slater&Gordon/
TheInewspaperSince the 1960s, sunbathing
topless has been seen in
France asasign of female
liberation–but according to
anew survey, it’s rapidly
falling out of fashion. Only
19% of French women now
go topless, down from 43%
in 1984, and only 2% of
under-35s do it. Anxiety
about sun damage is one
reason, but younger women
are also said to be fearful of
photos of them topless
being circulated online.Jousting may still look
medieval, but at English
Heritage events this
summer, VAR (video
assistant referee) techno-
logy will be used to make
sure the contestants’ points
are recorded correctly. A
spokeswoman explained
that being sure their points
were fairly won was import-
ant to knights, for whom
“honour is everything”.