How Boris could see off ‘PM’ Osborne

CHANCELLOR George Osborne is described as ‘PM-in-waiting’ in a headline about his China trip. Is this a help or a hindrance? David Cameron says he’ll resign before the 2020 General Election, which probably means in 2018. ‘PM-in-waiting’ will keep the focus on George, but it’s a burden, too. Fine when things are going well, but not otherwise. If there’s another economic ‘correction’ — which is forecast by some — George will face a Boris Johnson freed from the shackles of London’s mayoralty and from the restraints of a real Cabinet job. Boris has kept himself beneath the radar in recent months — here, if not in France. The internationally circulated magazine, Paris Match, currently contains a rave review of his Churchill biography, photoshopping his head onto Winston’s body and declaring: ‘There are hundreds of Churchill books a year, but none like this. Boris is a real phenomenon. ‘The prose is livelier than a slap around the face, jumping hither and thither, ignoring the usual road signs. It is vibrant, droll and also completely Churchillian: it’s impossible to put down.’ Boris and George differ on one big subject — austerity. George likes it, Boris doesn’t. Economist Richard Murphy, who has influenced Jeremy Corbyn, suggested yesterday that Osborne might abandon the austerity policy, saying: ‘George Osborne is a clever politician and if he’s proved that he’s capable of doing one thing really well, it’s nicking the Labour Party’s plans. He’s nicked the living wage and rebranded it.’ As it happens, Boris was on to this idea sooner. He called austerity a junk policy two years ago.