Boris Johnson’s failings exposed by his bluster – Andrew Vine

IT wasn’t supposed to be like this, at least not in Boris Johnson’s oft-expressed vision.

Here would be a dynamic new Conservative Government that, unlike its hamstrung predecessor, got things done, led by an inspiring Prime Minister with an instinctive understanding of the public mood.

Things could hardly have turned out differently. With every passing week, instead of dynamism there is incompetence and instead of inspiring leadership there is drift.

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The sense that this Government is not up to the job grows ever stronger, as does the suspicion that the Cabinet is stuffed with cronies and sycophants in place for their unwavering loyalty to Mr Johnson instead of their ability to deliver.

Boris Johnson's presidential style is being increasingly called into question.Boris Johnson's presidential style is being increasingly called into question.
Boris Johnson's presidential style is being increasingly called into question.

The hapless Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, is the most glaring example thanks to the continuing A-levels results shambles. But it isn’t only him. Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s performance over Covid-19 has been dismal, and as we head towards an autumn that may bring a second upsurge in infections, the testing and tracing programme he has so long promised as a key weapon against the virus is still woefully inadequate.

Then there is the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, and her ill-judged response to the increasing wave of migrants trying to get into Britain across the Channel.

It is glaringly obvious that the only effective way of stopping these people being launched on potentially lethal crossings of the busiest sea lanes in the world is to smash the criminal gangs behind this inhuman trade. That will require the closest co-operation with France. But instead, Ms Patel has created only division, having spent weeks insulting and antagonising the French.

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She has even descended to the absurdity of suggesting that Royal Navy warships be deployed against flimsy, overcrowded dinghies, to the horror of service chiefs who know quite well that would result in drownings.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has lost the country's confidence over the exams debacle.Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has lost the country's confidence over the exams debacle.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has lost the country's confidence over the exams debacle.

Or consider the Housing and Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, whose contacts with property tycoon Richard Desmond raised serious questions about his judgment, and who is now set to preside over changes to planning rules that threaten to strip local areas of the powers to block inappropriate development.

And behind it all is the not-so-shadowy presence of Mr Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, who single-handedly undermined the Government’s national lockdown by driving 
his family from London to County Durham when the rest of the country was observing the rules.

The honourable exception is the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, who has demonstrated that he is on top of his brief, but the Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames delivered a stinging verdict when he said the Cabinet was the worst he had known in his 36 years in Parliament, and contained some “very average” people.

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If anyone at the top of Government believes that the public is too preoccupied by its own worries about what the future holds for livelihoods to notice this woeful weakness, they are fooling themselves.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has also been mired in scandal.Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has also been mired in scandal.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has also been mired in scandal.

There are clear signs of growing dissatisfaction. Opinion polls are starting to show the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, ahead of Mr Johnson as the person who would make the best Premier. And in Scotland support for independence is now outstripping the numbers in favour of remaining part of the UK.

Mr Johnson’s essentially presidential style of governing isn’t working for the country. Instead of surrounding himself with the most talented people, he has selected a top team in which the key factor is personal loyalty rather than ability.

That’s no way to run a Government. Bluster, big ideas and promises might have worked for him on the campaign trail, but they just aren’t enough when it comes to doing the best by Britain’s people.

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He’s being exposed by the gap between his rhetoric and what his Government is delivering. Boasts about world-beating tracing systems to beat coronavirus are patently untrue.

Parents of children landed with poor exam grades that may jeopardise the course of their lives are furious at the almighty mess their sons and daughters have been dumped into.

And everyone who voted to take back control of Britain’s borders can see a government that talks tough on immigration is incapable of stemming a flow of illegal arrivals.

It’s a mess. Far from getting things done, this is a Government that is floundering.

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