Destiny awaits Boris Johnson if he gets Brexit done by Zoom – Bernard Ingham

WELCOME back to the fray, Boris, to cheer us up. Your assorted Jeeves have done their best on the box every evening but what we need is Bertie Wooster with brains as distinct from daft Donald (Trump) with none.
Boris Johnson returned to work this week after being struck down with Covid-19.Boris Johnson returned to work this week after being struck down with Covid-19.
Boris Johnson returned to work this week after being struck down with Covid-19.
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You can immediately raise the spirits of a majority of the nation by telling the EU once and for all where to get off. There will be no – repeat no – extension of the transition period. We leave for good on December 31. Have they never heard of Skype and Zoom? There is no reason why they should not negotiate our exit day and night for the next seven months – and keep our fish out of it.

The Remainers in our midst will, of course, never give up. I am waiting for them to argue that, now coronavirus has culled ancient Northern Euro-sceptic “thickies” like me, the nation is consequently on the verge of a new Europeanism. Bunkum.

Will Britain leave the EU at the end of the year - or will talks be put on hold?Will Britain leave the EU at the end of the year - or will talks be put on hold?
Will Britain leave the EU at the end of the year - or will talks be put on hold?
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Sooner or later they – and the 27 EU nations – will realise that the great federal Europe project is not on. It is a wonder it has survived the single currency’s impoverishment of the southern states.

Margaret Thatcher told them 22 years ago it was a pipedream – as anybody who watches international sport knows. We cheer and rate nation states, not invented entities called the United States of Europe, especially when they are far from united.

The EU and its predecessors have never been wholeheartedly united. The Franco-German axis tried to run it even in Mrs Thatcher’s day on somewhat feudal lines with the smaller nations supplicants for the brass they doled out through Brussels. Mrs Thatcher used to say “All my troubles come from Europe”. No doubt Paris and Bonn felt theirs came from London.

Coronavirus has shown how disunited they are. The Schengen Agreement’s free movement of people soon went by the board. After all, the governments of member-states are answerable to their electorates who expect Luxembourgers to look after Luxembourgers and to hell with high-minded theories of pan-Europeanism. Political leaders are not elected by Brussels bureaucrats but by real, accredited voters in their own countries.

Boris Johnson made a statement in 10 Downing Street on Monday.Boris Johnson made a statement in 10 Downing Street on Monday.
Boris Johnson made a statement in 10 Downing Street on Monday.
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Why we should be surprised at this is beyond me when the whole concept of communitaire solidarity went by the board when Angela Merkel opened up her borders to the Afro-Asian exodus. And don’t expect anything else when coronavirus is under control. By this time next year, every European nation will be desperate to trade with whoever will buy their goods – and blow Brussels’ regulations.

It falls to Boris to inject a new realism into international relations. Yes, we are all in favour of a unity of purpose among sovereign Western states but let’s cut the cackle about federalism. Let’s co-operate in rebuilding a world order based on pride in our democratic freedoms, strength of purpose and sound defences.

If coronavirus has shown anything, it is the ruthless ambition of Communist Russia and China who, between them, are colonising the developing world, especially Africa. If Brussels has an ounce of strategic nous, it will get Brexit out of the way and concentrate on deterring the threat from the East. Western disarray – in both the USA and Europe – just puts temptation in the way of Moscow and Beijing who are not overly concerned about public opinion.

Boris has no rival in the West for taking a convincing lead on the urgent need to defend democracy. President Trump is becoming ever more bizarre and Emanuelle Macron preposterous with his crackpot idea of a federal European army when we have Nato. Whoever thinks France will forego its national interest for the greater good is deluded beyond recall.

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In short, Boris Johnson comes back from intensive care to a truly Churchillian test: to lead us reasonably safely out of coronavirus, rebuild a ravaged economy and national finances; and inspire the democracies in defence of their freedom – a freedom with responsibility that has been widely demonstrated by the pandemic.

Let us remember that the Black Death led to the end of serfdom by raising the price of labour. Let coronavirus lead to a safer, more realistic world in which improving our defences against disease is seen as one essential component in maintaining our overall freedom.

We all knew before the pandemic that the management of the NHS – as distinct from its frontline staff – was not up to much. It needs root and branch reform. And so does our wider inflexible bureaucracy and quangocracy. Prime Minister: your destiny awaits.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

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