Sunday, October 04, 2020
Tory MPs tire of Johnson's Rasputin
We are in the middle of the Tory Party's virtual conference, and it is not just the technology that is struggling to find its purpose. The Independent reports that Boris Johnson is facing pressure from his own party’s MPs to get out of his “bunker” and shake off his reliance on controversial adviser Dominic Cummings.
They say that confidence in the prime minister within his own party has been shaken by his handling of coronavirus, doubts over a Brexit deal and recent rows over lockdown restrictions, bizarre plans to send asylum seekers to the south Atlantic and threats to break international law.
However, in a typical example of political cowardice and misdirection, this dissatisfaction is being directed at a much easier target than the occupant of number 10 Downing Street.
Speaking to The Independent ahead of the PM’s crucial speech to this year’s virtual party conference, several MPs said he needed to assert more grip, with one saying it was time for an end to “presidential-style” government by a small group around the leader.
But despite frustration about “drift” and widespread acclaim for the performance of chancellor Rishi Sunak, there was little appetite for a change at the top, with many instead saying that they wanted to see “the old Boris” who was voted in by a huge majority by MPs and party members last year and won a landslide in last December’s election.
One backbencher, who asked not to be named, said: “We want him to lead us, but there has been a lot of confusion and sometimes he seems to be taking his lead from the scientists or from his advisers. I think he could be doing more to instil confidence in his troops.
“He talks a lot about ‘levelling up’ but I’m not sure the voters have a clear idea what that means. He needs to put a bit of flesh on the bones.”
A former minister suggested Mr Johnson’s administration had run out of steam under the double burden of the coronavirus outbreak and the search for a deal on Brexit.
“The wheels have fallen off Boris’s Brexit bandwagon and he is stuck in the Brexit Covid bunker,” the MP said.
Stalwart Brexiteer Peter Bone, who joined the rebellion against Coronavirus Act powers allowing ministers to impose lockdown restrictions without a Commons vote, will not be alone amongst MPs in believing that the PM’s problems stem from his reliance on his most senior adviser. And there is no doubt that Dominic Cummings is influential. However, the buck stops with the Prime Minister, and it is he who has to take responsibility for governmental decisions.
Blaming key advisers is not new of course, but Cummings is no Rasputin. I have not seen the new version of Spitting Image, as I refuse to pay the subscription fee for the cable channel it is on, but they also seem enamoured of this image of the Prime Minister's key advisor as some sort of evil Svengali. Pictures I have seen make him look like Count Dracula.
All that this deflection does, though, is distract us from the real problem - an incompetent and lazy Prime Minister, who is allowing others to build a centralising, illiberal state in his name. If MPs want to change that then they need to replace Johnson, not his Rasputin.
They say that confidence in the prime minister within his own party has been shaken by his handling of coronavirus, doubts over a Brexit deal and recent rows over lockdown restrictions, bizarre plans to send asylum seekers to the south Atlantic and threats to break international law.
However, in a typical example of political cowardice and misdirection, this dissatisfaction is being directed at a much easier target than the occupant of number 10 Downing Street.
Speaking to The Independent ahead of the PM’s crucial speech to this year’s virtual party conference, several MPs said he needed to assert more grip, with one saying it was time for an end to “presidential-style” government by a small group around the leader.
But despite frustration about “drift” and widespread acclaim for the performance of chancellor Rishi Sunak, there was little appetite for a change at the top, with many instead saying that they wanted to see “the old Boris” who was voted in by a huge majority by MPs and party members last year and won a landslide in last December’s election.
One backbencher, who asked not to be named, said: “We want him to lead us, but there has been a lot of confusion and sometimes he seems to be taking his lead from the scientists or from his advisers. I think he could be doing more to instil confidence in his troops.
“He talks a lot about ‘levelling up’ but I’m not sure the voters have a clear idea what that means. He needs to put a bit of flesh on the bones.”
A former minister suggested Mr Johnson’s administration had run out of steam under the double burden of the coronavirus outbreak and the search for a deal on Brexit.
“The wheels have fallen off Boris’s Brexit bandwagon and he is stuck in the Brexit Covid bunker,” the MP said.
Stalwart Brexiteer Peter Bone, who joined the rebellion against Coronavirus Act powers allowing ministers to impose lockdown restrictions without a Commons vote, will not be alone amongst MPs in believing that the PM’s problems stem from his reliance on his most senior adviser. And there is no doubt that Dominic Cummings is influential. However, the buck stops with the Prime Minister, and it is he who has to take responsibility for governmental decisions.
Blaming key advisers is not new of course, but Cummings is no Rasputin. I have not seen the new version of Spitting Image, as I refuse to pay the subscription fee for the cable channel it is on, but they also seem enamoured of this image of the Prime Minister's key advisor as some sort of evil Svengali. Pictures I have seen make him look like Count Dracula.
All that this deflection does, though, is distract us from the real problem - an incompetent and lazy Prime Minister, who is allowing others to build a centralising, illiberal state in his name. If MPs want to change that then they need to replace Johnson, not his Rasputin.
