Opinion

Tom Kelly: It's all but over for Boris Johnson

Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street, London. Picture by Aaron Chown/PA Wire.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street, London. Picture by Aaron Chown/PA Wire. Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street, London. Picture by Aaron Chown/PA Wire.

IT was said that Confucius was walking in the mountains one day when he came across a woman weeping at a grave. He asked what was she grieving.

She replied: “We are a family of hunters. But my father was eaten by a tiger. Then my husband was mauled by a tiger and later died from his wounds. And now the same fate has happened to my only son.”

Confucius said: “Why don’t you leave this dangerous place and move down to the safety of the valley?” To which the woman replied: “But sir, there are no tax collectors up here!”

In relating this story to his followers, the great Chinese philosopher said: “You see, bad government is more to be feared than tigers.”

And so it seems the voters of Tiverton & Honiton and Wakefield agree.

The bad government of this current Tory administration is starting to unravel.

Boris Johnson has all the allure of fool’s gold. There’s a certain irony that he is in Rwanda at the moment. Perhaps he should seek asylum there. Certainly a growing number of Tory MPs would be willing to sponsor a plane.

After all, despite the appalling human rights record of Rwanda, the Prime Minister has declared it a safe haven for refugees.

Maybe whilst addressing the Commonwealth leaders, those listening in the audience may recall Johnson’s remarks about Africans with “watermelon smiles” and “flag-waving piccaninnies”.

In writing about African countries in 2002, the loose-tongued Johnson also said: “The continent may be a blot, but it’s not a blot on our conscience. The problem is not that we were once in charge but that we are not in charge any more.”

This is from a man leading a government engulfed by allegations of corruption and cronyism.

The Rwanda refugee/internment scheme is one of the most repugnant, immoral and heartless policies dreamt up by Johnson’s motley crew. Far from tackling people trafficking, it will only serve to penalise and re-traumatise some of the most vulnerable and exploited people on the planet.

Johnson may have thought it was clever to be out of the country when the two by-election results came in, but his absence gives his enemies the space to plot his demise.

As far as political commentators are concerned, the Prime Minister is now on death watch. Whether he cuts and runs or tries to create his own Stalingrad moment, it’s all but over.

The so-called Tory breakthrough of the 'Red Wall' in 2019 looks as effective as the Maginot Line. It won’t just crumble in a general election – it is going to collapse.

In the south and south west, the Lib Dems will devour safe Tory seats. The perfect storm for political change is about to occur. A resurgent Lib Dem party is long over due. A coalition government with Labour and Lib Dems is not out of the question.

The Tories deserve a hammering. Their grandees put their faith in a political charlatan and got an English version of Donald Trump.

Across England, they supported self-serving lickspittles as candidates. It’s highly likely the 2019 intake of Tories was amongst the least talented of the past century.

Keir Starmer has taken the slow, plodding route of making Labour electable. By changing his front bench, Labour looks and sounds like a government in waiting.

After the shenanigans of Johnson, the public are finally fed up with sleight-of-hand politics. They want sober, strong and effective leadership.

Labour needs to win back some of the SNP seats in Scotland, which is entirely feasible as electors there are showing voter fatigue of Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP and the Tories have been in government too long. They have no-one else to blame for policy failures.

Johnson is a politician who is both deluded and in denial. He won’t mind taking the Tory establishment down with him as he is a dangerous and wounded tiger.