At last, we have a PM who will bring energy and Brexit
MINISTERS resigning before he even steps into No 10 means Boris Johnson will get no honeymoon period as Prime Minister but he should be allowed to plot a new course for the UK. He has a clear and decisive mandate from both his own MPs and the Conservative Party membership, and will no doubt be keen to test his support in the country – but not too soon, please.
A handful of disgruntled Tory Remain MPs need to think long and hard before destabilising his premiership. A no-deal Brexit is not worse than a Labour government headed by Jeremy Corbyn. Leaving the EU is not equivalent to the damage caused to our economy by handing it over to avowed Marxists.
Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell recently gave an interview in which he couldn’t be more direct about his determination to destroy capitalism. “Oh yeah, I want to transform it completely,” he said casually. “It’s a system I think will evolve out of existence.” Really? The Soviets tried that and it didn’t work out too well for them.
Those quotes should be pasted on the desk of every myopic Tory rebel planning to undermine the first few days of Johnson’s government. Instead they should give him a chance because he could revolutionise the appeal of their whole party.
NOT ONLY will he bring a sunny, positive approach to Brexit, but he can end this gloomy lack of faith in our nation. In his leadership acceptance speech yesterday he spoke about his determination to “energise the country” and bring back a “can do” attitude.
As a big character who backs Britain, he should use the whole machinery of government to put the case for a successful departure from the EU. He will
be best placed to counter the never-ending Project Fear and should get civil servants on board to plan properly for our independence day on October 31. He should not make the mistake of his predecessor in seeking compromise and balance, especially within his Cabinet. We either leave or we don’t. There can be no halfway house and Theresa May’s failed attempts wasted three years that could have been used more profitably.
He should surround himself with a Praetorian Guard of Brexiteers and firmly see off the doubters. If he doesn’t, Nigel Farage is poised to end the Tory dithering. Once Brexit is enacted, Boris can then play to his other strengths. He has a good ear for popular concerns. He is right to back a new approach to social care so that hard-pressed families don’t have to bankrupt themselves to look after their loved ones.
He is right to pledge more money for a police force that needs to get back to basics and take control of the streets. His record as London Mayor shows he can cut crime. He has never been scared to stand up to political correctness and call it out when it goes against all common sense. His use of language is both amusing and yet well-judged to provoke fair debate. Too many of our politicians are afraid to say boo to a goose.
Above all, Johnson needs to reach out to working-class voters fed up with Labour’s lurch to the hard Left.That way, the Tories can be a party that speaks for all, rich and poor.
His privileged, Eton background is not necessarily a barrier to that. People generally don’t care where you come from so long as you take our country in the right direction.
Boris has always had to earn a living and knows the emotional rollercoaster of failed relationships. Sometimes his personal life seems more EastEnders than Downton Abbey.
HE EMBRACES the wealth-creating dynamism of capitalism but makes it clear that government also has a duty to “give everyone a fair chance in life”.
Margaret Thatcher understood this and won the support of the aspiring, patriotic working class with her brand of popular capitalism, spreading home ownership and giving people from humble backgrounds the chance to get ahead.
There is much talk about the negative side of populism, but by combining pride in our country with a greater sense of fairness it can be a force for good and can chime with the desires of most people.
With his natural ebullience, Boris Johnson has been given the chance to become the very emblem of a resurgent, fearless nation delighting in its own sovereignty and determined to be the great wealth-maker it always has been. A bounty that must be spread among everyone keen enough to work hard for it.
If he can embody that, then he will be able to see off easily the challenge of Jeremy Corbyn and his mean-minded Marxists.
‘Boris will counter Project Fear and give us independence day’