"MISSION largely accomplished," said Johnson at his last Prime Minister's Questions: Lying right to the end as he claimed to have "help saved" Ukraine from another country's barbarism.
He praised his own handling of the Covid pandemic, which in fact he mishandled by initially not taking it seriously enough to even turn up at five separate Cobra meetings to discuss it with his cabinet.
His reluctance to announce lockdowns contributed to the death toll of 200,000, yet he claims credit for the speedy vaccine roll-out, which was more to the credit of the NHS staff he is keeping on poverty wages.
Johnson says he got Brexit done. Another lie. The row over the NI Protocol continues
to prevent government operating here, while Britain is in the economic doldrums with growth stagnant, the value of trade between Britain and the EU at an all-time low, its citizens finding it harder and more expensive to travel to Europe and the shortage of foreign staff causing a crisis in the hospitality sector.
And the bunch of enablers in the Tory ranks who eventually found BoJo so toxic they voted him out gave him a standing ovation, cheering him to the rafters. Theresa May eventually got to her feet but didn't clap. Half-hearted, as usual.
And now we face Hobson's choice – Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss. Even one of their colleagues described it as a choice between a snake or a moron.
Johnson's real legacy is dishonesty and it was on full display amongst the bunch of candidates stabbing each other in the front to win the leadership prize. Kemi Badenoch tried to sound like she was from humble origins with her talk of flipping burgers at McDonald's as a student, surviving on the minimum wage only to lose most of it in tax.
There was no such thing as the minimum wage at that time and she wouldn't have earned enough at McDonald's to pay any tax. She also forgot to mention her career at Coutts bank or the Spectator magazine.
Penny Mordaunt was misleading about Britain being powerless to prevent Turkey joining the EU, exaggerated her career in the Royal Navy and did a complete U-turn on gender recognition, denying her original views, while Truss dissed her old school as having failed pupils, prompting outrage from fellow pupils who pointed out it had got her into Oxford.
Meanwhile, Sunak, who was polishing his self-promotional videos while publicly backing Johnson, is trying to prove to the Tory faithful that while he mightn't look as good in a blue dress as his rival, nor has he posed in a fur hat or head-scarved in a tank, he is just as Thatcherite as the Blessed Margaret.
He just has to prove to the Tory backwoodsmen and women that he isn't a treacherous snake who stabbed good old Boris.
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OFF to the west of Ireland for a few days where it reminded me that another benefit of a united Ireland would be weather forecasts that applied to us. This last few weeks, hearing about how to cope with soaring temperatures while looking at leaden skies has been irksome.
In Castlebar the heatwave lasted just 24 hours. By Tuesday the skies were grey again.
It was probably just as well, as our hotel wasn't cut out for tropical temperatures. The bed had no top sheet, just a cosy duvet, and the air conditioning unit in the bathroom was offset by the heated towel rail that couldn't be turned off.
There were some signs that tourists were coming back in the American accents heard around town, but less evidence that Ireland was ready for it. We went to hire bikes, but the shop didn't open until 10am. Hot and thirsty after the long ride to the Museum of Country Life in Turlough, we found the cafe didn't open until noon and the museum itself didn't open its doors until 1pm.
No rush, lads.
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AT TIMES of climate crisis, it's good to hear from Sammy Wilson, who often looks like global warming has certainly reached his cheeks. He was quick to dismiss the warnings about the dangers associated with the heatwave as "hysteria".
With temperatures reaching a record 40 degrees and a spate of wildfires across London, Sammy told MPs they were just "a couple of warm days" and most of their constituents, if they weren't working, would probably be out enjoying the nice weather.
Those people who watched their homes burned to the ground in Wennington and Dagenham might not agree, Sammy.
