Peter Hill

BORIS is in hot water again because he will insist on speaking his mind on Brexit. There are calls for him to be kicked out of the Cabinet but I think the Prime Minister would prefer him inside her tent than out, where he would be free to cause even more trouble for her.

The fact is Boris is the only Tory by a country mile who can lead the party to win the next election. Against the cult of Corbyn with normally sensible people queueing up to worship the socialist dinosaur, Boris alone has the charisma to attract younger voters.

The party grandees loathe him – they always fear big personalities – but grassroots Tories adore him. They are willing to forgive his maverick outbursts because they know he is right to take an uncompromising line on Brexit.

The appeasers in the Cabinet, Mrs May among them, are only showing weakness to EU leaders who scent blood. Boris is a crusader in the midst of a grey, timid team who appear more clueless every day.

The Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson is a compelling personality but will never compare with him as a national figure. As a simple test, ask yourself how many politicians or celebrities need only one name to be instantly recognised.

And who would you rather go for a drink with – Boris or Oh Jeremy Corbyn? q THERE appears to be a case for renationalising some public services such as water, in which investment rather than profit should be paramount, but those of us old enough to have experienced state-run organisations know that none worked efficiently. They were a byword for poor service.

Two existing examples should be enough to show that the Labour Party’s plan for sweeping state control is flawed: the NHS and the BBC. They are both in effect nationalised industries, both are grossly over-managed and obsessed by their own sense of rectitude.

They hate any suggestion that they are less than perfect and are stubborn against improvement. The NHS for example now has only half the number of beds it had 30 years ago despite having many more patients.

Capitalism is far from ideal, as is democracy, but they are the best way to run things yet devised. q MARCEL PROUST’S series of novels Remembrance Of Things Past is regarded as a work of genius but now we learn that he wrote the original rave reviews himself and paid newspapers and magazines to publish them.

So, a spin doctor before they were invented and even cleverer than anyone thought.

But as one who has actually read all seven densely packed tomes I can’t help thinking I have been conned. q THE new universal credit scheme in which all benefits are lumped together is about to be rolled out nationally but there are calls for it to be delayed or scrapped amid fears that it will cause hardship. While I dislike the benefit culture I accept that a civilised society must have a decent welfare system.

But there is something about universal credit that smacks of the poll tax. Is it a step too far? Will it work? Or will it be the final Tory mistake that delivers Labour to a disastrous term of power? Another U-turn might be wise. q IN THE face of the horrific massacre in Las Vegas, how can any sane person justify a law that allows everyone to carry not just pistols but automatic weapons capable of killing dozens of people in a single burst – in the case of Nevada without even needing a licence? It is America’s eternal shame. q NO ONE likes paying tax but most accept that it is necessary. There are limits, however, beyond which it does not work and stamp duty is a case in point.

Former chancellor George Osborne massively increased the duty on expensive property and as a result stamp duty revenues in London are down because fewer people are selling and buying homes on which hundreds of thousands of pounds are added in tax.

You might think that the rich should hand more of their often undeserved cash to the state but it has been proved that they are more likely to pay up if taxes are lower and that when they are excessive they find clever accountants or leave the country to avoid paying anything.

Does the Treasury want the moral high ground or the money? q SHOULD we start frothing with indignation that BC and AD are being replaced by the politically correct BCE and CE (Common Era)? Or is life too short, and in any case likely to be history if Kim Jong-un starts World War Three?

Answers on a postcard. Oops, they are already history. q A PHOTOGRAPH of dandyish politician Jacob Rees-Mogg wheeling his sixth child in a very ordinary buggy reminded me of my search for the perfect stroller when my son was a baby.

I finally thought I had found it when I bought a beautiful three-wheeler from America sporting pneumatic bike tyres and proper brakes.

It was as smooth as a Rolls but there was one problem: it was too wide to fit through British supermarket checkouts. q THERE has to be something terribly wrong with a transport system in which buying a ticket is no guarantee of actually going anywhere or getting back if you do. Recent airline experience suggests a rethink is needed PDQ.