Less than a fortnight after his damaging vote of confidence poll, Boris Johnson had moved the agenda on from him and party-gate to Brexit and Rwanda this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some suggested that conceding his \u2018oven ready deal\u2019 was actually only half-baked, and having to return to what threatens to be another long-drawn-out bun fight with the EU (and pro EU MPs), having promised to \u2018get Brexit done\u2019 would embarrass the PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, having to cancel a half-a-million-pound flight that was due to take seven (yes just seven) refugees to Rwanda was said by some to be yet another blow to the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those who subscribe to that view miss the point. The more division and distraction he can create, the happier Johnson is. And he is betting that, with some degree of well-found confidence, enough Brits will back him and his government over the EU, the European Court of Human Rights, and Johnny Foreigner \u2013 whatever the rights and wrong of the argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plan, if it was a plan, was having a modicum of success, as news platforms, tired of party-gate and Boris\u2019 misdemeanours, had moved on, focussing heavily on Rees Mogg and Liz Truss getting tough with the Irish and our \u2018European friends\u2019\u00a0over the protocol arrangements relating to the Brexit agreement; Priti Patel\u2019s attacks on \u2018leftie\u2019 lawyers, and Dominic Raab\u2019s threat to ignore European Court rulings. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then Boris\u2019 ethics adviser resigned \u2013 and his personal future was back on the front pages, just when he\u2019d hoped he had moved the debate on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lord Geidt, who has been in post for 14 months, during which time he has seen a fair number of what many would consider to be \u2018unethical\u2019 behaviours emanating from Downing Street, has seen enough. Johnson knows that many of his MPs and voters have had enough too. They are fed up of the PMs \u2018lapses of judgement\u2019. Bored of the Downing Street dramas. In the same way they got bored of Brexit shenanigans and wanted to just \u2018get Brexit done\u2019, they are now fed up with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He’s desperate to distract, divide, and hang on. Who will he pick a fight with next to try and hang on?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the absence of any coherent strategy to tackle the crisis the UK economy is facing, the PM has decided that the best way to hang onto his job is to pick a series of fights with the international community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":68558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,7],"tags":[93,100,762,2060],"class_list":["post-68557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs","category-totally-frank","tag-brexit","tag-eu","tag-johnson","tag-pm"],"views":689,"yoast_head":"\n