Section:GDN 1J PaGe:3 Edition Date:190724 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 23/7/2019 18:15 cYanmaGentaYellowbla
Wednesday 24 July 2019 The Guardian •
3
I
f Boris Johnson is the answer, what was the
question? To the 92,153 party members who
voted for him, the new Conservative leader
off ers a remedy to two ailments: persistent
membership of the EU and shrunken Tory
popularity. Applying generous doses of
Boris-branded tonic is meant to clear up both
problems at once.
About a third of Conservative members were
unconvinced by this plan and with good reason.
Johnson’s promise to “deliver” Brexit by 31 October
cannot be kept. The UK might cancel its European treaty
obligations on that date, but there is no closure while
the future relationship is unsettled. The less amicable
the separation, the harder the negotiations that follow.
There are people who believe that Johnson is the best
person for that job and there are people who have
worked with him and understand what is involved.
There is no overlap between the two groups.
Ministers who witnessed the new Tory leader in
action as foreign secretary testify to laziness, inattention
to detail, contempt for relationships, congenital
unseriousness and dangerous indiscretion. A vote last
week to obstruct dissolution of parliament in the run-up
to the Brexit deadline revealed the low esteem in which
he is held, even on his own side. It was a pre-emptive
strike, making him the fi rst prime minister to suff er a
defeat in the Commons before taking offi ce. Without a
dependable majority it isn’t even certain that he satisfi es
the entry-level constitutional requirement for the job. A
fl awed character embarks on a perilous journey from a
weak position – it is easy to chart the course to failure.
But Johnson has an irrepressible knack for failing
upwards. A shrewd Westminster veteran once warned
me against underestimating the phenomenon,
observing that “the pattern of Boris’s career has
been people predicting that he can’t possibly do
something, followed by him doing it.” Johnson’s time
in Downing Street might begin in chaos, dysfunction
and national embarrassment. That doesn’t mean it
will be short. Recent history off ers ample proof that
incompetent leadership can endure with the help of a
ruthless praetorian guard, a regiment of loyal fans and
disorganised enemies. The charge that Johnson is a
fl agrant charlatan and has given licence to racists can beA woman holds
up an anti-
Brexit, anti-Boris
Johnson placard
PHOTOGRAPH: WIKTOR
SZYMANOWICZ/REX/
SHUTTERSTOCKtrue without those traits inhibiting electoral success.
His target audience is a coalition of voters who don’t
believe it or don’t care. The accusation that he defi es
diplomatic norms is even less eff ective. It is taken as
a compliment by people who despise protocols and
conventions as shackles imposed by a remain-infested
establishment. The manual of good governance that
Johnson will shred is followed mostly by Westminster’s
losers. For that reason it feels prudent to brace for a long
stint of bad government.
In historical terms, now might be a uniquely bad
moment to experiment with maverick leadership.
Britain is adrift between an aggressively protectionist
US and a European project destabilised by nationalism.
Economic storm clouds are gathering on the horizon.
There is a climate emergency. Under the circumstances,
it would be handy to have a prime minister with
perspective and humility regarding the UK’s capacity for
unilateral action.
Instead we have a man whose strategic horizon goes
no further than his own ego; who does not distinguish
between personal gratifi cation and fulfi lment of
national destiny. From that perspective, success does
not fl ow from plans, alliances and evidence, but from
an optimistic spirit , for which the eff ervescing source is
Boris himself.T
he complaint that Johnson brings no
practical solutions to the challenges
he is about to face misses the point.
The power of his charisma , on
those who are susceptible , is that it
dissolves complexity and diffi culty.
Practical reservations about Brexit
can be dismissed as the invention of
cowards and nay sayers. Any disruption caused by a
disorderly rupture from the EU can be embraced as a
test of national resolve – re-enactment of the blitz for
the benefi t of people who missed it the fi rst time and
had to endure decades of partnership with a repentant,
democratic Germany instead.
Johnsonism is the comfort of parochialism
camoufl aged in the language of global adventure. It is
ignorance of the world as it is, smuggled in bluff and
nostalgia for the world as it once was. The psychological
appeal of such a creed is obvious. It is anaesthetic
against the disturbing reality of the times. The galling
element is its claim to patriotism, when a predictable
outcome is degrading Britain’s standing in the world
and making many British citizens poorer.
But threats to security and prosperity do not
have to announce themselves with sirens, jackboots
and breaking glass. Decline can be slow. Blame can
be defl ected. Rogue leaders can win majorities.
Westminster has been consumed by Brexit fever for
the past three years, but most people are not paralysed
by a sense of national crisis. The sight of Johnson on
the steps of Downing Street will trigger a range of
emotions, including horror and joy, but in between
there is a spectrum of curiosity, indiff erence, wariness
and goodwill. His record is appalling, but he can be
unfi t for offi ce and eff ective at staying there. He can be
selfi sh, incompetent and also gifted with the narcissistic
gravity that attracts followers. There is no problem
facing this country to which Boris Johnson is the
solution, but that doesn’t rule him out as the answer
people will give when next asked who they choose as
prime minister.Brace yourself
Britain, for a
long stint of bad
government
Opinion
Boris
Johnson’s
time in Downing St
might begin in chaos
and dysfunction, but
that doesn’t mean it
will be short
Rafael
Behr
РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS