Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 27

Being ‘economical with the truth’ has a long history in British politics – but enough is enough | Simon Jenkins

Liz Truss’s claim that tax cuts will reduce inflation are eerily reminiscent of Boris Johnson’s infamous style

Boris Johnson was a liar and had to go. It appears they are allowed to say that even in the Palace of Westminster, in certain circumstances, where dignity has traditionally banned such offensive words. Johnson might have thought he could roar and primp and bluster a few more months into the safety zone of another general election, as he half-implied at his last, raucous question time in ...

Who will be Britain’s next prime minister, Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss? | The panel

Only two candidates are left in the race to be next leader of the Conservative party. Our panellists tell us who they think will win

I could always tell we’d miss Penny Mordaunt when she was out. No, just kidding. There was a sliver of danger, had she or Tom Tugendhat taken the leadership, that they’d make a plausible discontinuity argument, and all parties would walk into the next election as if the smouldering ruins of the past 12 years were no one’s fault. The injustice would have choked us. S...

Why the Labour party is praying for the Tories not to vote for Rishi Sunak | Simon Jenkins

In the race for the top job there’s the alumni of Academy Boris – and then there’s the former chancellor, Keir Starmer’s biggest headache

There could be no grimmer epitaph for Boris Johnson’s Tory leadership than the list of his aspiring successors. On coming to power three years ago, he decapitated his party of talent. Like a new emperor fearful of rivals, he threw out the Hammonds, Rudds, Gaukes, Clarks and Greenings – anyone who offered an ounce of competence and dignity to his administration....

The public saw Boris Johnson as warmly authentic, then devious and corrupt | Simon Jenkins

He faced phenomenal challenges but had a disrespect for parliament and the public that finally caught up with him

Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it. It was chaotic. Boris Johnson’s last hours in office were palpably staged, not to ease his party’s torrid history or respect the dignity of his office. They were fashioned as the opening chapter of his memoirs: “How the bastards tried to oust me.” It has been Boris in full flow, two fingers to his colleagues, rhubarb to parliament an...

Johnson’s terrible legacy: the PM who held his party and his country hostage | Simon Jenkins

The public, MPs and one-time allies in cabinet want him out. Johnson’s decision to face them all down is a landmark in our political history

It was meant to be a mafia death, with no need for a 1922 Committee manoeuvre or an MPs’ vote.

When the men in grey suits left Downing Street on Tuesday night, they put on the table the requisite revolver and bottle of whisky. Boris Johnson apparently tossed them in the bin. Michael Gove, very much a cabinet big beast was one of those urging the PM to resign....

The United Kingdom is broken. It’s time for a new British federation | Simon Jenkins

Celtic grievances have erupted once more, and can no longer be waved away by Whitehall

The legendary Welsh rugby star Phil Bennett, who died last month, would rouse his team against England, calling them “bastards … taking our coal, our water, our steel … They exploited, raped, controlled and punished us – that’s who you are playing.” It was fighting talk, only half in jest. It was Celts against the English.

In British history and politics, the Celts have grievances that wax and wane, but they nev...

Keir Starmer’s Brexit plan is a mouse of a policy – what is he so afraid of? | Simon Jenkins

By refusing to discuss rejoining the single market or the customs union, Labour can’t deal with the ‘fatberg’ of red tape

The Labour leader Keir Starmer has at last peeped from behind his policy curtain and squeaked that he can “make Brexit work”. No, no, don’t worry, he is not against it, heaven forbid. He would not even wink at the single market or the customs union. He is just against the ostracising of scientists, the persecuting of vets and the “hulking fatberg” of red tape.

Labour’s silence ...

Scrapping the NI protocol is just the start. Johnson’s trade wars are Trumpism in action | Simon Jenkins

Brexit has left Britain out on a limb. Yet the PM seems hellbent on alienating our trading partners to boost his own position

Britain’s foreign policy is now at the mercy of Boris Johnson’s reckless quest for survival. At home he grasps for votes with Irish border controls, protectionist tariffs and immigrant quotas. Abroad, he tours Europe demanding total victory in someone else’s war while promoting the most intense economic disruption in the continent’s peacetime history. Every visit is treate...

Second homes can be a blight and a blessing on British towns. We need the right balance | Simon Jenkins

Since childhood I have lived some of the year in a Welsh valley. It is possible to become a part of the local community

Whitby has had enough. So have Mevagissey and St Ives. So has Brighton. So have the Lake District, the Cotswolds and half the beauty spots in Britain. No more second homers. Lockdown, staycations and “work from home” have seen an influx of newcomers, sending local property prices soaring by 20% over the past two years. Brighton this week voted to ban new building for non-primary...

Whenever Johnson has a problem, he calls Zelenskiy – and the bill is rapidly mounting | Simon Jenkins

Each domestic disaster is followed by a call pledging more aid to Kyiv – it’s the most expensive therapy session in history

What do you do when in deep trouble? Boris Johnson is having his fill of it, but does he consult his chief whip, his political aides, his secretaries or his wife? Intriguingly he turns to someone in even deeper trouble that himself, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Last Wednesday the prime minister suffered the humiliating departure of his so-called “ethics” advis...