Good riddance to an embarrassment

The resignations of British cabinet minister David Davis and Boris Johnson are serious, but the resigners themselves are not. Davis was an underwhelming Brexit secretary, and was marginalised by Downing Street. It was not a surprise that he quit.

He nevertheless resigned on a matter of policy principle. He did not believe that the new facilitated customs arrangement would fly with Brussels. He disliked the role that the European Court of Justice might play in arbitrating future trade rules. These are not foolish questions. But he did not resign because of personal ambition, since he is realistic about his chances of future office.

The same cannot possibly be said about former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, whose departure 18 hours after Davis could change the crisis facing the government from one concerning Brexit policy to one concerning the future of prime minister Theresa May. Mr Johnson is the most overrated politician in Britain, especially by himself. He was an embarrassingly useless foreign secretary.

He diminished Britain’s standing in the world and he diminished his own reputation by the way he played his role, not least by his praise for Donald Trump. He was simply not up to the job. But Mr Johnson does not do serious. He does selfinterest. The British Government is better off without him. The Tory party should not deceive itself that he is the answer to its problems.