Truth, lies and Boris

Boris Johnson's extraordinary newspaper article yesterday outlining his vision for Brexit  was an outrageous piece of political opportunism. It was also a vision for the future of post-Brexit Britain that not only lacked substance but repeated a number of misconceptions about the nature of the UK’s relationship with the EU – not to mention outright lies. It was fake news writ large:  repeat the lies often enough until people believe them. But what was bad enough in the spring of 2016 becomes more politically dangerous now that the UK is in exit negotiations with the EU.

Since context is more important than content in this debate, let us start with the political background. Theresa May, the prime minister described by former Chancellor George Osborne as "a dead woman walking" following the disastrous election campaign, is due to hold a speech in Florence on 22 September. Whether it is to offer an olive branch or take a hard line does not matter at this point (we do not know the nature of the speech): The fact is it is deemed to be sufficiently important that the EU has suggested that the fourth round of negotiations could be postponed. Johnson's intervention could thus not have come at a worse time for the government.

His was an appeal to the hardline Brexiteers, and whilst it was a well-written piece as befitting a former journalist, it represented a triumph of form over content. Coming two weeks ahead of the Conservative Party conference, it is impossible to see this as anything other than a domestic power grab by a politician whose mendacity knows few limits. It never gets tiring to point out that Johnson was fired from his first job at The Times for falsifying quotes, whilst he irritated fellow journalists with his articles from Brussels for The Telegraph which portrayed the workings of the EU in an absurdly exaggerated way. It is thus hard to take seriously his claim that he is "all behind" Theresa May. If I were the prime minister, I would never want Johnson behind me: I would want him where I can see him.

That the government is in disarray is pretty evident. Not only did it trigger Article 50 before it decided what it wanted out of the EU negotiations, but it damaged its bargaining position by holding an election and losing its slim parliamentary majority. Speculation has mounted that a leadership challenge to the prime minister will come from those on the right wing of the Conservative Party who supported Brexit. More of a concern is the fact that all this in-fighting is forcing the government to take its eye off the ball. Brexit is hard enough that it will dominate pretty much all of its legislative efforts. But then to find it is being distracted from its main task by sniping from the sidelines, it is no wonder that negotiations are not going well. Michel Barnier is right: the British government simply does not know what it wants, nor how to ask for it. Their actions remind me of young teenage boys trying to chat up girls, whilst simultaneously trying to impress the group of mates who are hanging around within earshot. Oddly enough, such occasions almost never deliver the desired outcomes.

As for the content of Johnson's article, it was designed to put some steel into the backbones of those who voted leave. The implication was that the current government has not done what it planned but he was the man to deliver. "I detect scepticism about whether we have the stamina, the guts, the persistence to pull it [Brexit] off ... I am here to tell you that this country will succeed in our new national enterprise, and will succeed mightily." Classic Johnson guff. You don't have to go too far in to find the first lie: "Before the referendum, we all agreed on what leaving the EU logically must entail: leaving the customs union and the single market." But as Brexiteer-in-arms Daniel Hannan said before the referendum "absolutely no-one is talking about threatening our place in the Single Market."

However, Johnson goes on to repeat the most egregious of all the lies told during the campaign: "once we have settled our accounts, we will take back control of roughly £350 million per week. It would be a fine thing, as many of us have pointed out, if a lot of that money went on the NHS." This prompted a response from the head of the UK Statistics Authority who responded today with a letter which stated: “I  am  surprised  and  disappointed  that  you  have  chosen  to  repeat  the  figure  of  £350  million per  week, in  connection  with  the  amount  that  might  be  available  for  extra  public  spending when we leave the European Union. This confuses gross and net contributions. It also assumes that payments currently made to  the  UK  by  the  EU,  including  for  example  for  the  support  of  agriculture  and  scientific research, will not be paid by the UK government when we leave. It is a clear misuse of official statistics.”

A Brexit piece of this nature would not be complete without conflating the failings of UK government and the EU. "We should use the opportunities afforded by historically low interest rates to give this country the infrastructure it deserves." And there was me thinking that it was George Osborne's policy to pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity. Finally, there was the appeal to nationalism. "I look at so many young people with the 12 stars lipsticked on their faces and I am troubled with the thought that people are beginning to have genuinely split allegiances.”  

The whole 4000 word essay was, in the words of my American friends, a crock. It is an appeal to emotion over reason, the sort of thing we put up with during the referendum campaign. But the time for posturing is over. It was an appeal to the sunny uplands vision of what might be possible, but which made no recognition of the fact that you might have to go deep into the valley first. I thought we were over this kind of nonsense. Dammit, you won the vote. Show us you have what it takes to get the deal you promised.

Remember how Brexit was all about taking back control? It increasingly looks as though the prime minister is not in control of her government. If she wants to assert her authority, Johnson should be sacked. If she fails to do so, it will confirm the suspicions of the EU that it is facing a weak and divided government and will be even less minded to begin talking about trade anytime soon. We know that Brexit is not a viable economic prospect and that it is purely a political exercise. But it appears that the politicians cannot even get the politics right at present.