THERE are many reasons for not envying Theresa May, and having Boris Johnson in her Cabinet must be prime among them. Apart from all the faux pas and foppishness, the Foreign Secretary is now effectively dictating policy on Brexit to the Prime Minister.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson went so far as to say Mrs May’s post-Brexit trade policy was “crazy”. And yet, far from firing him, she stands by him. These are certainly crazy times at the heart of the UK Government. They make one yearn for saner times with clearly established rules and comforting constitutional niceties such as the small but important matter of “Cabinet responsibility”.
Former Tory minister Dominic Grieve offered this lesson to Mr Johnson yesterday: “The discussions within government on any given matter are confidential until the time is reached when the government has a collective position. And if you don’t like the collective decision at that stage then you have to resign.”
So, if Mrs May does go “crazy”, and manages to persuade her Cabinet to back plans for a customs partnership, then Mr Johnson will have to put his money where his mouth is.
That mouth is currently a megaphone for the mob demanding full Brexit. Mr Johnson wants to be the darling populist holding Mrs May’s elegantly shod feet to the fire, in which entertaining endeavour he is backed by Jacob Rees-Mogg, who tweeted: “Boris hits the nail on the head.” With a plasticine hammer perhaps.
But this is a serious matter for Mrs May. Fudge Brexit and Mr Johnson’s nail will be the final one in her political coffin, according to the more temperamental newspapers in London. We might feel sorry for her being damned if she doesn’t (ditching the customs partnership and watching the economy collapse) and damned if she does (going for a soft Brexit and watching her Cabinet eat itself).
HOWEVER, allowing oneself to be backed into that position is a classic symptom of bad leadership. It speaks of a lack of strategy, which is perhaps hardly surprising after Mr May inherited Brexit policy on a Post-it note containing the message: “Good luck with that.”
Mrs May’s luck is running out. She presides over a Cabinet wherein a loose cannon is calling the shots. Mr Johnson parrots the Brexiters’ slogan of “taking back control” but, with his every utterance, he causes Mrs May to lose control. She looks adrift and, if she wants to convince the nation that she can still steer a course through the choppy seas of Brexit, a good starting point would be to take action against the Foreign Secretary, who seems intent on torpedoing her.
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