Boris Johnson simply has to go
by They say a week is a long time in politics, and for Theresa May it’s probably felt like an eternity.
Tory Minister Priti Patel resigned last week — or she was fired according to which version you believe — following a humiliating charade when she was ordered back to Downing Street from a government trip in Kenya.
The Prime Minister had only just fired Michael Fallon the week before following allegations about his behaviour. The Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green is currently being investigated about allegations of misconduct. He may have to go too. Any way you look at it — this is a government in crisis and the Prime Minister appears powerless to deal with it.
Ministers in her government go ‘rogue’ or ‘freelance,’ meanwhile, Brexit continues to unravel.
This takes me to Boris Johnson. He still sits at that Cabinet table but his behaviour in the last few weeks has been utterly shocking — arguably as bad as any of his sacked colleagues.
How has he been able to avoid the sack is completely bewildering.
His stupidity has endangered Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British citizen being held in jail in Iran, because Johnson incorrectly suggested she had been working with journalists in there – when she had in fact been on a family holiday, introducing her young daughter to her grandparents.
Now the Iranian regime is using Johnson’s blunder as justification for her completely wrong imprisonment, taking his comments as confirmation that they were right about the reasons for the trip.
The Foreign Secretary should be the government minister who protects UK citizens overseas but his actions may have consigned Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe to years behind bars in Tehran.
And yet Boris still refuses to apologise. His arrogance is unending.
Boris’ behaviour is symptomatic of the chaos that we are now seeing at the heart of Mrs May’s government.
Of course it is not his first offence — he already has a long list of thoughtless, daft remarks behind him. This time though it is not just a gaffe, it is far more significant with tragic consequences. He must go.
As the days continue, Boris will be a sign of how utterly weak and exposed Theresa May is — because she knows that if she does eventually do the right thing and fire him — it could be the end for her too.