It is symptomatic of British politics at the moment that, at 10.35am, one can write “another Old Etonian in Downing Street”, post the piece, cut back a bay tree, mow half an acre of lawn, and then return to discover that Boris Johnson has eliminated himself from the Tory leadership race. In no more time than it takes to complete a game of football with extra time, the commentator’s efforts are become electronic garbage fit only for the recycle bin.
News is what gets hits – the evidence for that is, even for the Socialist mindset, incontrovertible – but I gave up chasing that tiger years ago. However, even the slightest peek into the future in 2016 is a footnote from the past within 120 minutes. Eat your heart out, Marshall McLuhan.
But what garners loyal users towards any site or blog is the ability to bring insightful analysis to the news. And as at the moment I am 100% deficient in that department, I shall on this occasion try and simply add some value to what is.
- Within six days of the Referendum result being known, the highest profile spokespeople for both Remain and Leave have resigned. This makes as much sense as David killing Goliath, and then committing suicide. Clearly, other things are in play behind the scenes.
- I do not buy the “poisoned chalice” argument being peddled by the Guardian and the Left. First, they are almost always wrong about everything; and second, Boris’s entire life has been devoted to stepping across the threshhold of Number Ten.
- The man now openly vying to be Cameron’s replacement has repeatedly – and I mean, on at least a dozen occasions – protested that he did not want the top job. Clearly and verily, he hath protested too much. The Trojan horse looked benign enough. Suddenly, it wasn’t. I think we’d do well to look at the contents of this particular Trojan horse.
- Michael Gove is venerated by Rupert Murdoch. When Gove declared for Brexit, the Digger tweeted fulsomely about Gove’s “honesty” in taking the plunge. Gove was a Murdoch journalist for many years; for him, Merdeschlock can do no wrong. This is an obvious character flaw. And Roop always promotes people with whom he can “do business”.
- I have said all along that widespread elements in the Conservative Party do not trust Boris. For them, he is the contemporary Winston Churchill: fine in a war when one’s back is against the wall, but otherwise to be avoided. Johnson has, bluntly faced with that reality, wisely decided to fight another day.
- Gove has either taken soundings and found his ally wanting, or used him as a populist to get the result he and his backer(s) wanted from Day One. Either way, he emerges from these events as a man of quite staggering ruthlessness: he seems to have given Johnson ten minutes notice of his decision to run.
Meanwhile, across the corridor, Labour’s reaction to Tory cannibalism appears to be a civil war between two sets of pinhead angels. For once, a Slog invention – the MPM (major Party meltdown) – might actually become a widely used term.
But if like me you missed this development, fear not: there’ll be another one along in a minute.
The Slog 