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Johnson humiliates us
One must hope that there are enough Tories still to vote that will support Jeremy Hunt. Boris Johnson cynically refused meaningful debate with his opponent or the media until he hoped most had cast their ballot.
Probably its too late to stop the triumph of a man wholly unsuitable to become Prime Minister. We can now add Sir Kim Darroch to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as victims of this man. The humiliation of a top envoy and the continued incarceration of an innocent woman in an Iranian jail may not worry Tory Party members but it certainly worries the country at large.
Johnson wants us to leave the European Union for the exciting world trade on offer around the world. A crucial element of that is a good treaty with the United States. I have already expressed my view that we face lower food standards and more expensive drugs as a result. We can now see even more clearly what Johnson and Trump doing a deal will mean. Johnson is in thrall to a President who shares so many of his characteristics including a worship of market forces, shooting from the hip with unguarded remarks and a “colourful” private life.
His failure to support our ambassador in Washington was utterly disgraceful. Theresa May should appoint a new envoy to stop someone like Richard Tice from the Brexit Party getting the post under Johnson.
This is what our country will become if we don’t stop Brexit. We will be supine and desperate for trade deals with America and China. We will sacrifice our values for grubby deals as we try and compensate for the loss of our strong economic ties to the EU.
In the Hunt
I’m not a great fan of Jeremy Hunt but he would make a far more reliable Prime Minister than his opponent. Tory members who have still not voted need to ponder the twin dangers of supporting Johnson for their own party. Johnson will always be a few remarks, or a careless decision, away from a serious blunder that could seriously damage the Tories. Also, if his “do or die” Brexit gamble fails, the party will never be forgiven.
Hunt did well in the debate and exposed the total inability or refusal of Johnson to answer important questions. Hunt said an unequivocal yes to HS2, a third runway at Heathrow and to abortion and gay marriage rights in Northern Ireland. Johnson equivocated on all of them.
Hunt looks and acts like a statesman, let’s hope we have another shock victory that will confound the pundits.
Labour pains
The agony goes on within Labour. The exposure of the ineffectiveness and even sabotage of the anti-Semitism drive by the BBC this week shows what people like MPs Louise Ellman (Liverpool Riverside) and Luciana Berger (Wavertree) have suffered.
There is clearly a major problem in Liverpool because Stephen Twigg, an effective moderate MP representing West Derby has had enough and will stand down at the next election.
The party has tried to clarify its position on Europe by making it worse. It is against leaving the EU when in opposition but would be negotiating a Leave deal if it were in government with the option to campaign against it! You couldn’t make it up.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_raw_html]JTNDYSUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnR3aXR0ZXIuY29tJTJGSmltSGFuY29ja1VLJTNGcmVmX3NyYyUzRHR3c3JjJTI1NUV0ZnclMjIlMjBjbGFzcyUzRCUyMnR3aXR0ZXItZm9sbG93LWJ1dHRvbiUyMiUyMGRhdGEtc2hvdy1jb3VudCUzRCUyMmZhbHNlJTIyJTNFRm9sbG93JTIwJTQwSmltSGFuY29ja1VLJTNDJTJGYSUzRSUzQ3NjcmlwdCUyMGFzeW5jJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwbGF0Zm9ybS50d2l0dGVyLmNvbSUyRndpZGdldHMuanMlMjIlMjBjaGFyc2V0JTNEJTIydXRmLTglMjIlM0UlM0MlMkZzY3JpcHQlM0U=[/vc_raw_html][vc_raw_html]JTNDYSUyMGNsYXNzJTNEJTIydHdpdHRlci10aW1lbGluZSUyMiUyMGRhdGEtaGVpZ2h0JTNEJTIyMTAwMCUyMiUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnR3aXR0ZXIuY29tJTJGSmltSGFuY29ja1VLJTNGcmVmX3NyYyUzRHR3c3JjJTI1NUV0ZnclMjIlM0VUd2VldHMlMjBieSUyMEppbUhhbmNvY2tVSyUzQyUyRmElM0UlMjAlM0NzY3JpcHQlMjBhc3luYyUyMHNyYyUzRCUyMmh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGcGxhdGZvcm0udHdpdHRlci5jb20lMkZ3aWRnZXRzLmpzJTIyJTIwY2hhcnNldCUzRCUyMnV0Zi04JTIyJTNFJTNDJTJGc2NyaXB0JTNFJTIw[/vc_raw_html][vc_raw_html]JTNDYSUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnR3aXR0ZXIuY29tJTJGSmltSGFuY29ja1VLJTNGcmVmX3NyYyUzRHR3c3JjJTI1NUV0ZnclMjIlMjBjbGFzcyUzRCUyMnR3aXR0ZXItZm9sbG93LWJ1dHRvbiUyMiUyMGRhdGEtc2hvdy1jb3VudCUzRCUyMmZhbHNlJTIyJTNFRm9sbG93JTIwJTQwSmltSGFuY29ja1VLJTNDJTJGYSUzRSUzQ3NjcmlwdCUyMGFzeW5jJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwbGF0Zm9ybS50d2l0dGVyLmNvbSUyRndpZGdldHMuanMlMjIlMjBjaGFyc2V0JTNEJTIydXRmLTglMjIlM0UlM0MlMkZzY3JpcHQlM0U=[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]
