Such are the hardships of life as a regular Spectator columnist that I find myself on a flying visit to London, Budapest and the Italian Dolomites. This trip just happened to coincide with the saga around Boris Johnson and his resignation from Parliament. So here’s my outsider’s take, the favoured vantage of many readers of this, Australia’s best weekly.
Claim one. Boris completely blew his huge 2019 mandate. Elected on a strong Brexit platform that pushed for much lower immigration, lower taxes, big deregulation, standing up for national sovereignty against the EU over Northern Irealand and the like – a policy mix that warms my heart – Boris came into office massively popular. Within months the Covid pandemic hit. Boris’s instincts were against going down the path of thuggish authoritarianism where the public health clerisy, the Pravda-like legacy media and politicians drunk on power imposed the worst public policy fiasco on almost all democracies not rhyming with ‘Eden’. They trafficked in fear not backed up by facts; they imposed picayune and petty rules that clearly would have no effect; they weaponised the police; they made the old die alone; they undercut personal autonomy by pseudo-imposing mandates for a vaccine that was never tested as to whether it stopped you getting or spreading the virus; the list of inroads on our civil liberties going on into the distance and it still makes me white-hot with anger when I recite this list of brutalities. (And don’t forget readers, the Spectator Australia virtually alone stood up against this from day one based on, you know, core liberal values missing from just about all Liberal politicians.)
