The Guardian view on Julian Lewis: better a maverick than a poodle
Julian Lewis and Chris Grayling are a pair of dyed-in-the-wool rightwing Conservative leaver MPs. On issues like Brexit, their politics are as indistinguishable as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Yet Mr Lewis’s surprise victory over Mr Grayling in the election to chair parliament’s intelligence and security committee on Wednesday is not a plague-on-both-your-Tory-houses result. On the contrary, it is the sort of outcome that even parliament’s most trenchant leftwingers and remainers could scarce forbear to cheer. For Mr Lewis is a rightwing maverick, while Mr Grayling is a rightwing poodle. Mr Lewis’s win is one in the eye against No 10, the whips and the payroll vote. It should unite all those on every side of politics, and of all parties, who want MPs in parliament, not Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, to make the decisions that matter.
The committee was first set up in 1994 by a Conservative prime minister, John Major, who respected parliament. Its powers were enhanced in 2013 by another Conservative, David Cameron, who shared that respect. Over the years it has become more confident as a result. Boris Johnson, by contrast, has little respect for parliament, no desire for accountability, despises checks and balances, and is vindictive towards those who disagree with him, especially on Brexit. His attitude to the committee has been the polar opposite of respectful, not least because it was chaired, until 2019, by the independent and scrupulous former attorney general Dominic Grieve, a staunch remainer.
It is a disgrace that the committee has barely met for an entire year and has only just been reconstituted. It is a disgrace that this has meant that the final report written under Mr Grieve, on Russian interference in UK politics, has gone unpublished until now. But the worst disgrace was Mr Johnson’s attempt this week to parachute Mr Grayling into the chair in an effort to stifle its valued independence and expertise as his condition for relaunching a committee that is a statutory body.
Unlike almost every predecessor in the post since 1994, Mr Grayling had a contemptibly poor record as a minister. Unlike almost every predecessor, he has no background in the security world. There were plenty of better qualified candidates on the Tory benches who could have been put forward, such as Sajid Javid, Julian Smith, or indeed Theresa May. But they were all Mr Johnson’s marked enemies. The choice of Mr Grayling was shabby and shameless. The indignation that would be directed against a Labour prime minister who behaved in this manner over national security issues does not bear thinking about.
Mr Lewis is now on the Downing Street enemies list too. Mr Johnson’s instant response to his election was typically spiteful, expelling Mr Lewis from the parliamentary Conservative party. This is a potentially draconian sanction. Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings did exactly the same to Mr Grieve and 20 other Tory MPs who voted against a no-deal Brexit last September, driving them out of parliament. Like them, Mr Lewis has committed the sin of being independent-minded. He also has very strong views on defence. Having him in the chair as Mr Cummings sets about
trying to turn the Ministry of Defence and the secret agencies upside down could become explosive.
The committee has moved quickly too, authorising the publication of the Russia report next week. A government that wishes to treat Brexit as an accomplished fact is nervous about any suggestion that Brexit is also the policy of Vladimir Putin. This explains why the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, on Thursday tried to turn the spotlight on Russia’s possible role in providing Jeremy Corbyn and his advisers with secret documents during the 2019 general election. This is a dirty political battle on all sides.
Mr Johnson’s desire for strict control over Tory MPs may make him launch a whipped vote in the Commons chamber to remove Mr Lewis. This could rebound in Mr Johnson’s face, not least because it goes against the law under which the committee exists. MPs value their independence. Few of them owe Mr Grayling a favour on this scale. It would be an important test of the honour and dignity of a fresh cohort of Tory backbenchers. Bring it on.