Johnson’s glib approach instils little confidence

BRITONS will sleep a little easier knowing they can still avail of “cheapo flights to stag dos and fall in love with foreigners”. It was with these words British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson put fears to rest concerning Brexit, or so he hoped. Never mind that he chose not to mention the dangers it raises for the North of Ireland, or the security and massive trade implications a hard Border and disorderly Brexit entails. Trifling matters, in the context of a chap being able to pop over the pond and sow some wild oats. Or one might think, given Mr Johnson’s readiness to ignore them.

A similar but even more reckless disregard for the threats Brexit poses was reflected in the obduracy displayed by all sides in the North in getting the Assembly up and running.

Failure to take responsibility for the crisis is baffling. Mr Johnson’s speech was billed as a vision for a “liberal Brexit”. It was also intended to soothe the anxieties and salve the wounds of Remainers, but it was so scant in detail, it was far more likely to have made them smart. Twenty months down the line, and we are no clearer as to what the UK wants in its EU divorce settlement. The North is also left in perilous suspended animation.

It is some time since Thomas Jefferson declared: “Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto.” Mr Johnson seems to have adopted an equally glib and blinkered approach – as if no other parties were involved. Mr Johnson was supposed to be unveiling Theresa May’s “Road Map to Brexit”. If that indeed is what it was, its contours were very faint and we can brace ourselves for a long and difficult journey, north, south, east, and west, with no precise destination on the horizon.