No.63 - Boris’s Coup D'état: A ‘Boys’ Own’ Strategy of ‘Stick it to the Europeans, Love Trump and Bribe the Populace’.
Dear James,
I assume that you will soon be off on holiday with your family where I sincerely hope you will be able to cut yourself off from the chaos of Westminster. But please remember that, behind you, you will be leaving a nation in turmoil.
You are now part of a party that has catapulted us into the land of Boris make-believe. Or shall we call it what it is – a coup d’état? A non-elected government selected by a tiny group of Tory party members enacting a hard right, kamikaze policy of nationalistic stick waving at imaginary enemies. He’s going to sock it to the EU, trash the withdrawal agreement and withdraw from the Irish backstop. Simultaneously he’s going to rush across the Atlantic into the arms of Trump. But ahead of all this he has launched a multi-million pound campaign to bribe the electorate with a range of goodies, using the ‘end of austerity opportunities’ to excite everyone. An increase in police numbers of 20,000, a fund for the Northern Powerhouse cross-Pennine railway, and a give-away of £3.6bn to the left-behind communities. He’s even been to Scotland to bribe them with a promise of £300m.
To sum up it is a policy of ‘Stick it to the Europeans, love Trump and bribe the populace’. To the world, ‘Britain Resurgent’, to the USA, ‘Britain Supplicant’ and to the population, ‘Britain Bounteous’. This is the wild dream of a fantasist with huge implications for our country. The crunch will come when the Europeans call his bluff, when the markets do their homework and when Trump remembers that it is America First. When the markets speak, Sterling will collapse and GDP growth will shrink. In addition to this, If we leave with no deal, the costs will be £90bn p.a. according to the government’s own figures. So where will the 'Boris Bung' come from?
Boris’s answer seems to be the USA. His love-in with Trump seems to be predicated upon a ‘very special deal’ in which, according to the ‘Twitterer-in-chief’, trade between the US and the UK would increase by up to a factor of five.’ In other words, the US would fill in the gap left by the EU! This is crazy thinking – Napoleonic in its scope and Hitlerian in its potential for disaster. In fact, it’s typically Boris. Think big and leave it to others to fill in the details or, more likely, to scoop the poop. Oh my God!
In fact what Boris continues to do is to relive his fantasies of the immediate post-world war generation. It is pure Boy’s Own comic stuff! The USA and Britain against the defeated European Foe. It may benefit him to remember what actually happened in those years. In August 1945,Washington suddenly terminated Lend-Lease making Britain essentially bankrupt. So beware those who believe that the USA can be relied upon to back the UK government in all circumstances. It’s a common fallacy in this country that the USA is UK Mark 2. On the contrary, the USA is composed of many ethnicities, many of whom are antagonistic or, at best, indifferent to the UK. e.g. the Irish Americans.
The problem is that any coup d’état is in the end an act of desperation. Behind all this patrician confidence of the Tory party there is panic. Your party James knows that it is in the last chance saloon where you are supping with the devil in the form of that well known imbiber, Nigel Farage. In so doing your party is making an utter fool of itself. The ridiculous posturing of Boris and his team - refusing to talk to Leo Varadkar, snubbing Brussels - is an embarrassment to all right thinking people in our nation. It should be an embarrassment to you too James.
But away on holiday, you will be able to forget all this for a while. A few weeks off with the family is the ideal place for keeping your head below the parapet. I just hope that in this time you may have a brief opportunity to see what your party is doing from a more objective point of view. Because in September you will return to Westminster for one of the most explosive sittings it has ever known. In this session you are going to have to finally make your own position clear. At the moment you have plumped to accept a no-deal Brexit. When the chips are finally down, you are going to have to double down on that or return to reason.
Enjoy your holiday James but please remember, we are all watching.
Kind regards,
BH - Your Concerned Constituent