who is the new prime minister

Prime Minister Boris Johnson: The Jester Takes the Throne

Parliamentarians and party members have held their noses and voted in a man deeply unsuited to lead. Now the British public must live with their choice.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, to paraphrase Shakespeare. Heavy because power brings with it responsibilities that are not to be taken lightly – jaunty laughter, bluff and bluster will quickly fall upon the rocks of political reality.

Britain is doomed. It has allowed the court jester to take the throne.

Too harsh? I think not. Too partisan? Not at all.

The tragedy of this tale is that the idea of Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition, walking into Number 10 also fills me with a sense of doom and gloom.

There is a common assumption that, one way or another, Boris Johnson’s promotion will lead to an early general election, in which case the great British public will enjoy a simple choice – chaos with a blond bouffant, or disaster in cycling clips. Just mark your ballot with a grubby little pencil that’s tied to an even grubbier piece of string.

Why do I sense that large numbers of people won’t bother to engage with such a dismal decision?

Heavy are the heads of the party members who voted for the jester. Heavy because it is they who must take some responsibility. Charisma, celebrity stardust and Churchillian quips are not enough, and when all goes wrong (note “when” not “if”) it will be to the Conservative party that the nation turns and asks: “What have you done?”

Also read: Boris Johnson Set to Be UK’s New Prime Minister

Can there ever have been a man more ill-suited to high public office? Take this insider verdict, for example: “That he’s a habitual liar, a cheat, a conspirator with a criminal pal to have an offending journalist’s ribs broken, a cruel betrayer of the women he seduces, a politician who connived in a bid for a court order to suppress mention of a daughter he fathered, a do-nothing mayor of London and the worst foreign secretary in living memory.”

Too harsh? I think not. Too partisan? Not at all. This is, in fact, the view of a former Conservative MP – Matthew Parris.

Heavy are the heads that held their tongues and lined up behind the jester. “Ministerial-itis” – as Gerald Kaufman famously explained – is a particularly dangerous disease. The desire for advancement among backbenchers can corrupt even the most sensible member.

Faustian pact

The ministerial ladder has always been smothered in grease – and it has generally been the prime minister doing the smothering. Ministerial wannabees suggest that the extra risk that comes with Johnson was “priced in” to their decision to support him. Wake up, you fools, from your sleepy slumber! Bargaining with Boris is a Faustian pact you can only ever lose.

Heavy are the heads that held the jester’s hand and led him to the throne. You held him back, shut his mouth and tamed his hair. You knew that the biggest threat to Boris was Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and you saved him from himself. He waved a kipper as you sold a kipper; and it’s the British public who will now pay the price.

Democratic politics really is the slow boring of hard wood. It is dull and exhausting, based on delegation and compromise. It is slow and steady, it’s about listening more than talking, it’s about emotional intelligence and a moral compass, and founded on trust, not humour. It’s not a joke, no laughing matter. It demands the conscientious absorption of detail. Can you spot the problem?

The truth is that the jester has ridden on many backs on his way to the throne. But the ride is now over. He’s achieved his ambition. From now on he will live or die on the basis of his own political skill and cunning.

The only good thing about prime minister Johnson is that he has nowhere to hide. The ice is very thin beneath the throne and leadership can be a very lonely business.

Matthew Flinders, Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Incoming British PM Johnson on Iran, Trump, Huawei and the Economy

Former foreign minister Boris Johnson was elected leader of Britain’s governing Conservative Party and will take over as prime minister when Theresa May steps down on Wednesday.

London: Former foreign minister Boris Johnson was elected leader of Britain’s governing Conservative Party on Tuesday, and will take over as prime minister when Theresa May steps down on Wednesday.

With the leadership campaign largely dominated by Brexit, Johnson has set out little in the way of firm policies, but below are some of his positions on key issues:

Iran:

Johnson has said while the 2015 nuclear deal is looking “increasingly frail” and ways need to be found to constrain Iran‘s “disruptive behaviour”, engaging with the Iranians and seeking to persuade them not to pursue a nuclear weapons programme is the right way forward.

He has so far shown little sign of moving closer to U..President Donald Trump‘s more hardline approach, instead saying he agreed with the position taken by European countries to encourage a return to diplomacy. He has said he would not currently back military action.

“I am not going to pretend that the mullahs of Tehran are easy people to deal with or that they are anything other than a disruptive, dangerous, difficult regime, they certainly are,” he said during a leadership debate earlier this month.

“But … if you asked me whether I think we should now, were I to be prime minister now, would I be supporting military action against Iran? Then the answer is no.”

Also read: Do Voters Have a Right to Protection Against Politicians’ False Claims?

Hong Kong:

As protests erupted in the former British colony earlier this month over a proposed extradition bill, and a war of words ensued between Britain and China, Johnson told Reuters the people of Hong Kong were “within their rights to be very sceptical, very anxious” about the legislation.

“I do support them and I will happily speak up for them and back them every inch of the way. And I would stress to our friends in Beijing that the one country, two systems approach has worked, is working and should not be cast aside,” he said.

Huawei:

A final decision on whether to include China’s Huawei in Britain’s 5G telecoms network has been stalled by May stepping down. Johnson has said while there can be significant benefits to investment from other countries, he would not compromise Britain’s national security infrastructure.

“You would not expect me as prime minister to do anything to compromise the ability of our fantastic intelligence services to share information as they do, particularly with our five eyes partners, so that is the principle that will guide us.”

Relationship with the US:

Johnson is keen to maintain a strong relationship with the US and British media have reported he is considering a visit to meet Trump early in his premiership.

His reluctance to antagonise Trump was evident earlier this month when he failed to defend Britain’s ambassador to Washington after diplomatic memos in which Kim Darroch described Trump‘s administration as “inept” were leaked to a newspaper.

Instead, Johnson said he had a good relationship with the White House and it was “very important that we should have a close friendship, a close partnership with the US”.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson attends the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland June 18, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Johnson has since said Darroch told him the lacklustre support was a factor in his decision to resign.

During a leadership debate, Johnson did criticise Trump for his comments about four congresswomen but declined to describe the remarks as racist.

“If you are the leader of great multi-racial, multi-cultural society you simply cannot use that kind of language about sending people back to where they came from, that went out decades and decades ago and thank heavens for that so it is totally unacceptable,” he said.

The economy:

Johnson has vowed to spend billions of pounds on public services, infrastructure and tax cuts including promises to increase spending on education, transport, super fast broadband and police and end a public sector pay freeze.

He has said he will tap into the 27 billion pounds of “fiscal headroom” that has built up in the public finances, referring to the difference between the government’s target for the budget deficit and its projected size.

“Believe me there is cash now available … I’m prepared to borrow to finance certain great objectives but overall we will keep fiscal responsibility,” he said.

British media have reported he is preparing an emergency budget including aggressive tax cuts, an overhaul of the stamp duty property tax and an assault on regulation if there is a no-deal Brexit.

During Johnson’s time as mayor of London, he championed financial services but has been trying to rebuild ties with company executives after an expletive against business.

Tax Cuts:

Johnson has said there is room to make tax cuts and has pledged to raise the level at which the higher rate of income tax is paid. He also wants to raise the threshold at which people start to pay National Insurance.

“We should be raising thresholds of income tax – so that we help the huge numbers that have been captured in the higher rate by fiscal drag. We can go for much greater economic growth – and still be the cleanest, greenest society on earth,” he said.

He has also said Britain should cut business taxes but has indicated internet giants could be forced to pay more.

“It’s deeply unfair that high street businesses are paying tax through the nose … whereas the internet giants, the FAANGs – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google – are paying virtually nothing,” he said.

(Reuters)

Boris Johnson Set to Be UK’s New Prime Minister

His victory catapults the UK towards a Brexit showdown with the EU and towards a constitutional crisis at home.

London: Boris Johnson, the ebullient Brexiteer who has promised to lead Britain out of the EU with or without a deal by Halloween, will replace Theresa May as prime minister after winning the leadership of the Conservative Party on Tuesday.

His victory catapults the UK towards a Brexit showdown with the EU and towards a constitutional crisis at home, as British lawmakers have vowed to bring down any government that tries to leave the bloc without a divorce deal.

Johnson, the face of the 2016 Brexit referendum, won the votes of 92,153 members of the Conservative party, to 46,656 for his rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

May will leave office on Wednesday after going to Buckingham Palace to see Queen Elizabeth, who will formally appoint Johnson before he enters Downing Street.

The result is a spectacular victory for one of Britain’s most flamboyant politicians, and places an avowed Brexit supporter in charge of the government for the first time since the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU in the shock 2016 referendum.

But Johnson – known for his ambition, mop of blonde hair, flowery oratory and cursory command of policy detail – takes office at one of the most tumultuous junctures in post-World War Two British history.

Also read: UK Minister Quits Before Johnson Becomes PM, Denounces Brexit

Divided Kingdom

The 2016 Brexit referendum showed a United Kingdom divided about much more than the EU, and has fuelled soul-searching about everything from regional secession and immigration to capitalism, the legacy of empire, and modern Britishness.

Brexit, which has already toppled two Conservative prime ministers, will dominate.

Johnson has pledged to negotiate a new Brexit divorce deal with the EU to secure before October 31. But if the bloc refuses, as it insists it will, he has promised to leave anyway – “do or die” – on Halloween.

It is a step that many investors and economists say would send shock waves through world markets and tip the world’s fifth-largest economy into recession or even chaos.

A Brexit without a divorce deal would also weaken London’s position as the pre-eminent international financial centre while jolting the northern European economy.

Johnson‘s Conservatives have no majority in parliament and need the support of 10 lawmakers from Northern Ireland’s Brexit-backing Democratic Unionist Party to govern.

Even then, the majority is wafer-thin – and some lawmakers have threatened to bring down the government, a step that would probably deepen Britain’s political crisis and lead to an election.

(Reuters)