Backoff our Boris
‘Sniping’ by No10 is undermining his serious work abroad, says top Tory MP
TORY MP allies of Boris Johnson launched a thinly veiled attack on Theresa May and Philip Hammond yesterday for publicly mocking the Foreign Secretary.
Jake Berry, a close personal and political ally of Johnson, leapt to his defence saying ‘sniping’ against Johnson from inside ‘Whitehall’ had to stop.
His comment was clearly aimed at Downing Street, where the ‘sniping’ against Johnson has been led by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.
Johnson has faced additional flak from Europe, with EU ambassadors describing him as ‘no longer amusing’ and saying his wit ‘does not always travel well’.
And he was called ‘insulting’ by the Italian economics minister for claiming Rome would veto trade tariffs on the UK to protect prosecco sales.
Boris’s supporters believe the Downing Street-led jibes have helped to encourage the attacks by undermining his status.
The Foreign Secretary’s friends swung into action as he showcased his serious side by making his first visit to Afghanistan this weekend.
And his fightback will continue next week when he makes a major foreign policy speech on Britain’s post-Brexit place in the world.
Rossendale and Darwen MP Mr Berry said: ‘Boris has spent this weekend in Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
‘And what are his armchair critics doing? Sniping from the comfort of Whitehall.
‘They need to get behind him if Britain is going to succeed with Brexit’. The Foreign Secretary said: ‘Afghanistan is an amazing country and I’m incredibly proud of the work that the UK is doing here to challenge extremism and terrorism, promote democracy and human rights and support the Afghan government’s reform plans. ‘British military trainers are improving the ability of the Afghan military to stabilise the country and respond to extremism, and our development work means girls are defying extremists by going to school and university. ‘Our work also means that terrorism is increasingly tackled at source. ‘Hundreds of British men and women continue to work here for noble reasons, in often highly dangerous circumstances, and we continue to owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the vital contribution that they are making.’ Berry has a reputation for standing up for Johnson. When he was knifed by Michael Gove in the Tory leadership contest, Berry said there was ‘a deep pit reserved in hell’ for him. Another Conservative MP said: ‘If May and Hammond want Boris to be able to help Britain get a good Brexit deal they had better start treating him with the respect he deserves. ‘Every time they take potshots at him in public, it encourages others to do the same here and in Brussels. He deserves better.’ Hammond humiliated Johnson last week during his Commons Autumn
Statement over his bungled bid to become PM in the summer.
Turning Johnson’s 2013 quip that he could run for Tory leader ‘if the ball came loose at the back of the scrum’ against him, Hammond said: ‘I suspect that I will prove no more adept at pulling rabbits from hats than (Boris) at retrieving balls from the back of scrums.’
Johnson, standing a few feet away, was furious as MPs, including May, roared with laughter.
Earlier this month, the PM teased him after he had joked about Michael Heseltine ‘throttling’ his dog. Mrs May said: ‘Boris, the dog was put down… when its master decided it wasn’t needed any more.’ And she used him as the butt of her humour in her main party conference speech by joking about her struggles to keep him on message.
Last week’s Mail on Sunday reported that Boris made a bumbling performance in the Cabinet Brexit committee when he appeared to have brought the wrong papers with him.
Johnson angrily denied the claims and friends said it was part of a ‘whispering campaign’ against him.
Boris’s task is not made any easier by the turf war with his fellow Brexiteers, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Brexit Secretary David Davis, which has limited his influence.
His trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan signals the start of a drive by the Foreign Secretary to shed his bumbling image and command more respect among his international counterparts.
During the trip, which required Boris to wear body armour and travel in heavily protected convoys, he burnished his statesman credentials by holding talks with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani over the volatile security situation and vis- ited a military training academy where British troops are trying to help Afghan forces to build a professional army. He laid a wreath at the British war memorial in Kabul and met our troops stationed at the city’s airport.
He also saw the results of tying British investment to extending opportunities for women by watching a production of Macbeth which, unusually for the strictly Muslim country, featured female actors.
In his speech next week, Boris will set out his personal vision for the post-Brexit world order for the first time, addressing the forces which propelled Donald Trump into the White House, the future of Nato, the geopolitical threat posed by Russian president Putin and the destabilising effects of the Syrian conflict and the migrant crisis.
Another pro-Boris Tory MP said yesterday: ‘It is obvious that Downing Street is determined to take Boris down a peg. The below the belt comments are no longer funny.’
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said yesterday that he was ‘too focused on ensuring Britain has the best relationships around the world’ to be concerned about the ‘trivial’ jibes being aimed at him.