Martin Kettle's Blog, page 24

Johnson’s apology to the Queen marks a new low for a prime minister

Analysis: from Winston Churchill to Theresa May, it would be hard to think of a more humbling and cringeworthy moment

After 70 years on the throne, every aspect of the relationship between the monarch and her prime ministers must surely have become deeply, even sometimes wearyingly, familiar to Elizabeth II. Fourteen very different men and women have held the country’s highest political office since 1952 – 10 Conservatives and four Labour. Ideologically, they cover a wide spectrum of views.

Yet they have all been united by one thing: the intense care they have taken never to embarrass the Queen in the slightest way.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson is doomed, but Rishi Sunak might not be the saviour the Tories crave | Martin Kettle

Johnson’s likely successor as prime minister is inexperienced, and his popularity with voters may already be waning

Downing Street’s May 2020 bring-your-own-booze party has reignited the despair about Boris Johnson’s leadership that the remaining Conservative optimists hoped might disappear over the winter break. Now, though, the blaze has revived with a vengeance. Johnson’s apology to the Commons does not solve this in any way.

The apology merely confirms what was already clear: an astonishingly insensitive breach was committed at the height of the first lockdown. This dereliction did not just feature Johnson as a participant: it was marked by his very character. His apology, with its continued pretence about a work event within the regulations, lacks either moral worth or political credibility.

Martin Kettle is a Guardian associate editor and columnist

Continue reading...

English cricket is in disarray – and it’s a metaphor for the whole country | Martin Kettle

Cricket is ruled by upper-class white men, deluded about their abilities. It’s hard not to see a parallel between the Ashes shambles and Brexit

It has been years since football surged past cricket to become England’s favourite sport. Even so, more than a century after cricket’s “golden age”, an Ashes Test series between England and Australia remains one of the most resonant contests in the sporting calendar. This week, after the latest ignominious England defeat in Australia, it seems sensible to ask two questions. How come? And for how much longer?

For some of us, cricket is still the most wonderful of all sports, uniquely balancing individual skill, collective effort and the need for time and strategy. But why are England now playing it so badly? The Ashes contest is uniquely deep-rooted in national legend. The Bradmans and Bothams cast long shadows. But why has this inspired Australians to heroic feats, while reducing England to nervous wrecks?

Martin Kettle is a Guardian associate editor and columnist

Continue reading...

Humiliated and unable to govern, Boris Johnson is close to the point of no return | Martin Kettle

Look to history and it’s clear that all failing governments reach a tipping point. Once the public says enough is enough, the end is inevitable

The history books will show that Boris Johnson’s government was hit by two shattering humiliations in December 2021, two years after it was elected. The first was the record-setting revolt of 101 Conservative backbenchers against Covid passport regulations. The second, two days later, was the loss of the North Shropshire byelection to the Liberal Democrats.

But, as we approach the start of 2022, the combined consequences of those reverses now matter more than the actual events themselves. That is because, between them, the two defeats have rewritten the script for the remainder of this government’s term.

Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

Rossini to romcoms and Feldman to football: the best classical music and opera of 2021

In a second year of disruption to classical music performances, we asked our critics to tell us about their highlights, and what aspects of 2021 they’re showing the red card to

More on the best culture of 2021

I was a big fan of Pavel Kolesnikov’s recording of the Goldberg Variations, and it was a pleasure to be once again part of a reasonably big, focused Proms audience to hear him play the work, the same yet different, in the Royal Albert Hall. I had missed the feeling of being part of a group of thousands collectively holding our breath. Yet what’s been more striking than seeing big events return is the way in which some smaller ones have seized their chance: events such as the Oxford Lieder festival, which kept going with a huge programme including some exciting new commissions, efficiently delivered to online audiences and those in the hall. Facing the double whammy of Covid and Brexit, the resilience of the music business even in the face of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s cancelled meetings, cack-handed press releases and general indifference has been quite something. Erica Jeal

Continue reading...

Conservative backbenchers are out of touch with the public — and fully removed from reality | Martin Kettle

The libertarian right correctly gauged voters’ mood on Brexit, but rebelling on Covid rules could be politically dangerous

The Conservative government won the Commons vote; but it was so badly wounded by the revolt that it could not continue without change at the top. Boris Johnson will be aware that this is precisely the situation in which his hero, Winston Churchill, waded to power in May 1940. Neville Chamberlain’s government had managed to win a crucial vote on the conduct of the war, but Tory rebellions and abstentions meant a new leader became inevitable. Johnson always craves comparison to Churchill, but the shoes in which he finds himself today are snugly those of Chamberlain.

Britain is not at war in 2021, but it faces a continuing emergency because of Covid. Further restrictions against the Omicron variant may be needed soon as cases continue to multiply, and Johnson has now promised another vote if they are. After Tuesday, when 100 Tories rebelled and at least 16 deliberately abstained, Johnson cannot now win another victory like this week’s without triggering far more acrimony and humiliation for himself and his party. That possibility really could be terminal, especially if the Tories lose the Shropshire North byelection.

Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

Lang Lang review – Bach’s Goldbergs are smothered with love

Barbican, London
This was a performance full of idiosyncrasies, of which some brought unexpected delights, but others felt perverse and mannered

Lang Lang comes as a package deal. Even after a lay-off due to an arm problem he still has his wondrous piano technique. He always offers himself as a wholly serious musician. He is certainly an important one – an inspiration to millions. But he is also one of the most mannered maulers of the repertoire you are ever likely to encounter.

This Barbican recital showcased all of it. No pianist playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations – they were prefaced by Schumann’s Op 18 Arabesque – is trying to take the public’s money for old rope. One or two tiptoed exits during the Goldbergs suggested some were not getting what they had expected. Be clear, too, that there were moments of dazzlingly appropriate Bach playing, as in the lightning fast skips and shadings of the 14th variation, where Lang’s quicksilver touch was a delight.

Continue reading...

Will the furore over the No 10 party be enough to burst Boris Johnson’s bubble? | Martin Kettle

The prime minister has shamelessly broken rules before, but the sense that the country can do better is now running deep

Boris Johnson’s entire life and career are littered with personal, professional and political deceptions. He breaks rules and tells lies with shameless confidence and without compunction. This is part of his act, but it sometimes feels as if it is almost a matter of self-regarding principle too. That is partly because, most of the time, he gets away with and is even rewarded for it. So why should it be any different now?

The question facing British politics today is whether the image of a Downing Street Christmas party, and the excruciating insensitivity there would be in holding it on a day when nearly 500 people were dying of Covid, may be the event to burst Johnson’s bubble. Last week an online video spoof showed Johnson apparently receiving a Covid booster jab, then shrivelling up like an empty balloon. That video was someone’s fantasy. Now nature is imitating art. It was a deflated Johnson, a rare sight in any season, who turned up to answer prime minister’s questions on Wednesday.

Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

Sturgeon is being forced to play the long game on a second referendum | Martin Kettle

UK ministers’ inactivity has turned the Scottish independence debate into a constitutional chess match not a fight for freedom

Here are four truths about Scottish politics. The nationalist SNP commands the stage, reinforced by its latest Holyrood election mandate in May. Its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, is Scotland’s most admired political figure by far. Boris Johnson is a big turnoff for Scots. And more Scots want a second independence referendum by 2026 than do not.

Sound familiar? They should. All four things have been true in some form or other for a long time now. The SNP has been dominant for 14 years now. Sturgeon has reigned supreme for seven. No Conservative prime minister has been popular with Scots. Demands for a second referendum have revved up since the 2014 No vote, especially after Brexit.

Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

The Tories now see that although Johnson can win elections, he simply can’t govern | Martin Kettle

The prime minister’s disastrous CBI speech might prove the catalyst that turns the party against his leadership style

Boris Johnson’s CBI speech may prove to be one of those moments that damningly define a prime minister in the public mind and which they can never shake off. Many will hope that something reputation-puncturing happened to Johnson this week. And perhaps it did.

It is true that Johnson has never been less popular as prime minister. His YouGov approval stands at -35, with 64% of voters saying he is doing badly and 29% well. But the most powerful evidence that things are going off the rails for Johnson is not to be found in the polls but at Westminster and in Whitehall.

Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...