Johnson in hurry to prove point as PM on a mission
After little more than a week in No10, Tory leader sets course for no-deal Brexit and general election
HAROLD WILSON famously said a week was a long time in politics, and Boris Johnson’s first days as Prime Minister have not disappointed.
Today, it appears more than ever that Mr Johnson and his team’s eyecatching first steps have been laying the groundwork for the twin possibilities of a no-deal Brexit and a general election.
Having declared himself “undaunted” by the prospect of delivering Brexit on Oct 31 in “a new spirit of cando”, Mr Johnson vowed to energise the country in his first speech on July 23 as a “dude” of a Tory leader.
His arm-waving oratory took on a more serious tone when he took to the steps of Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister, declaring a desire to “change the country for the better” with more money for schools, 20 hospital upgrades and 20,000 more police officers on the streets.
To some, the bold pledges appeared to resemble the types of promise a party leader might make as they geared up for a general election. And, indeed, today The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s lieutenant in No10, has privately identified the NHS, police and schools as key areas in which the Tories could “neutralise problems” having secured a majority in an election after Brexit.
Mr Johnson promised to defy “the doubters, the doomsters and the gloomsters”, insisting: “The buck stops with me” as he declared that the Hallowe’en deadline would be met, “no ifs, no buts”.
Yet he faces significant resistance. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, has signalled that he would support a motion of no confidence brought by Jeremy Corbyn if it meant stopping a no-deal Brexit. Philip Hammond, the former chancellor, and Rory Stewart, the former international development secretary, both of whom quit after Mr Johnson’s election, are also determined to stop a no-deal outcome.
Having recently said his favourite film moment was the “retribution scene” in The Godfather, Mr Johnson staged his own political massacre after entering No 10, as 17 ministers either resigned or were sacked. His decision to replace them with loyalists and Brexiteers, including Dominic Raab, Priti Patel, Sajid Javid and even his old Tory leadership adversary Michael Gove, led Mr Corbyn to declare it was “the most hard-Right Cabinet I have ever seen”.
The clear-out also gave the impression – seemingly confirmed today – that Mr Johnson was preparing the ground for an election campaign.
Ms Patel, who voted against Mrs May’s Brexit deal at every opportunity, is seen by Nigel Farage as one of the biggest threats to the Brexit Party. The appointment of Mr Cummings, who was campaign director of the Vote Leave campaign, also showed that Mr Johnson was serious about delivering Brexit by Oct 31.
Mr Johnson has turned up the heat on EU leaders, warning that the UK would head towards a no-deal Brexit unless the Irish backstop was scrapped, insisting that preparations for such an outcome were being “turbocharged”.
But his warnings, in at least some cases, appear to have fallen on deaf ears, with Downing Street convinced that those such as Emmanuel Macron, the French president, still think Mr Johnson is bluffing.
“People like Macron think we’re bluffing and even if we’re not bluffing they believe what they’ve been told by people like Blair and Grieve that MPs will cancel the referendum,” Mr Cummings told staff last week.
Last weekend, the Prime Minister headed north to announce funding for a new rail route between Manchester and Leeds. Although the championing of the Northern Powerhouse appeared to indicate Mr Johnson was in “campaign mode”, he declared that there would not be another poll before Oct 31.
But privately, it now appears, he believed he could delay any election until November – despite the best efforts of Tory
MPs such as Mr Grieve, who could fall in behind Mr Corbyn. As this newspaper discloses today, Mr Cummings has privately insisted that if MPs trigger a no-confidence vote, the Government would still deliver Brexit on Oct 31.
Indeed, as this newspaper forecast last Sunday, Mr Javid demonstrated the seriousness of Mr Johnson’s pledge by announcing an extra billion pounds of spending on no-deal preparations last week. A new funding package unveiled by the Chancellor included a £100million marketing blitz. And Mr Johnson’s approach appears to be paying dividends. A survey published today by ORB found that 30 per cent of voters now approve of the way the Government is handling the Brexit negotiations – the highest rating in the monthly poll since before Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement was published in November 2018.
Some 46 per cent agreed with the statement that “if the EU is unwilling to reopen negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK should leave without a deal”.
Mr Johnson’s team clearly believe that a majority of the public will be on his side if he resorts to ignoring the opposition of MPs to a no-deal departure. As Mr Cummings told No 10 staff: “Corbyn and Grieve believe that the MPs are the masters and they can cancel votes they don’t like even after they promise to respec spect them. “Everybody will have to pick a side. And the people will see we are on their side. “Remember – opinion is 50-50 on Brexit, but we have a majority on the question ‘can MPs cancel votes they dislike?’” British taxpayers are forking out millions so that MEPs can drink from sparkling water fountains, be driven around by chauffeurs and sit in £220 memory foam chairs, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
Quaestors’ Quarterly, a newsletter written by the European parliament’s administrative officers, offers an intriguing glimpse into the gilded lifestyle of MEPs, who also benefit from a notoriously secretive expenses package and an airport fast lane.
One issue of the newsletter seen by The Telegraph tells MEPs that a special VIP line has been set up at Strasbourg airport, so MEPs don’t have to queue up with the masses.
The service, called “passengers with assistance”, allows MEPs to be “accompanied by specially assigned airport staff to this fast lane, where Members will be given priority”.
Another entry, from the spring 2017 newsletter, announces the creation of an internal drivers’ service, illustrated with a cartoon of a grinning chauffeur.
“As Parliament officials, a high quality, polite and