Johnson is more ‘dog with a bone’ than poodle

He has been accused of many things, but for Boris Johnson, the suggestion that he is America’s “poodle” is beyond the pale. The Foreign Secretary is said to be furious at the ill-informed jibe by Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, which followed Johnson’s decision to pull out of a planned trip to Moscow and leave the way clear for the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

But Mr Johnson, who chose not to defend himself yesterday, is said to be biting his lip for the sake of the greater good. Whitehall sources say that far from being Mr Tillerson’s lapdog, Mr Johnson is quietly playing a longer game that is starting to pay dividends.

Britain’s ultimate aim is to bring about regime change in Syria, ending President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal 17-year presidency.

America, of course, is the only country with the power to make that happen, but until now President Donald Trump’s isolationism has ruled out any prospect of US intervention.

There are clear signs, however, that Mr Trump may be about to change his mind, and if he does Mr Johnson will deserve his share of the credit.

One insider said: “Ever since Rex Tillerson was installed as Secretary of State in February, Boris has been saying ‘you’ve got to get rid of Assad’ and their attitude has always been ‘we’ll get back to you on that one’.

“Over the last couple of months, Boris has been slowly getting through to the Americans with the message that Syria is their problem too, because it makes all Western countries less safe.

“Far from being a poodle, he has pushed and pushed them and finally they have come around.”

During numerous transatlantic telephone calls last week, ahead of the US missile strike on the Syrian airbase used to launch an earlier nerve gas attack on civilians, Mr Johnson was said to have been “bullish” in encouraging the Americans to take military action (while some other countries were rather less so).

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, yesterday became the most senior figure in the Trump administration to say Assad has to go – a complete about-turn from her stance only days before the gas attack.

And while Mr Tillerson is still shying away from calling directly for regime change, Mr Johnson will have another opportunity to talk him round when they meet at the G7 foreign ministers’ summit in Italy tomorrow.

Mr Johnson’s decision to cancel his Moscow trip also makes perfect sense: he was one of several Western foreign ministers due to visit Russia this month, giving the Kremlin the chance to play them off against each other and exploit even the smallest differences in their policies towards Syria.

If Mr Tillerson goes alone – and with a united message from the G7 – Russia’s Vladimir Putin can no longer play his favourite game of divide and rule.