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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| The nation is tiring of Boris’s vainglorious act | The nation is tiring of Boris’s vainglorious act |
| (25 days later) | |
| Letters | Letters |
| Mon 18 Sep 2017 18.51 BST | Mon 18 Sep 2017 18.51 BST |
| Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 15.32 GMT | |
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| Boris Johnson certainly is yesterday’s novelty (Opinion, 18 September). When the practice of politics is now so similar to advertising, where style and appearance often matter more than substance, if the Johnson brand is not refreshed it will fall out of favour. It is inevitable that he will be replaced by a newer and more exciting brand, which is that of Jacob Rees-Mogg. Not only will going back to the old message fail to refresh the Johnson brand, it will reveal its vacuousness. Advertisers are selling a product; there is some substance to the advert, however when all that is being sold is the “appearance” of something, the advertiser will inevitably be exposed. Now, with the difficult negotiations over Brexit what a politician needs is knowledge and understanding of the EU. Any politician who lacks that will be found out, as has Boris Johnson. Phrases such as “go whistle” for the money might make a good tabloid headline, but they reveal a vacuousness in the thinking of the speaker.Derrick JoadLeeds | Boris Johnson certainly is yesterday’s novelty (Opinion, 18 September). When the practice of politics is now so similar to advertising, where style and appearance often matter more than substance, if the Johnson brand is not refreshed it will fall out of favour. It is inevitable that he will be replaced by a newer and more exciting brand, which is that of Jacob Rees-Mogg. Not only will going back to the old message fail to refresh the Johnson brand, it will reveal its vacuousness. Advertisers are selling a product; there is some substance to the advert, however when all that is being sold is the “appearance” of something, the advertiser will inevitably be exposed. Now, with the difficult negotiations over Brexit what a politician needs is knowledge and understanding of the EU. Any politician who lacks that will be found out, as has Boris Johnson. Phrases such as “go whistle” for the money might make a good tabloid headline, but they reveal a vacuousness in the thinking of the speaker.Derrick JoadLeeds |
| • Matthew d’Ancona’s suggestion that Boris Johnson’s latest foray into the Brexit debate falls some way short of the statesmanship displayed by his 19th-century predecessors, Lords Palmerston and Castlereagh, forgets to mention that in his time Castlereagh was one of the most despised politicians of his age, prompting Lord Byron to suggest this epitaph: “Posterity will ne’er survey / A nobler grave than this: / Here lie the bones of Castlereagh: / Stop traveller and piss”.Graham MurdockProfessor of culture and economy, Loughborough University | • Matthew d’Ancona’s suggestion that Boris Johnson’s latest foray into the Brexit debate falls some way short of the statesmanship displayed by his 19th-century predecessors, Lords Palmerston and Castlereagh, forgets to mention that in his time Castlereagh was one of the most despised politicians of his age, prompting Lord Byron to suggest this epitaph: “Posterity will ne’er survey / A nobler grave than this: / Here lie the bones of Castlereagh: / Stop traveller and piss”.Graham MurdockProfessor of culture and economy, Loughborough University |
| • Johnson’s big problem is that, having been instrumental in swaying “the will of the people” to leave the EU, he now has to persist in his deceit of £350m a week for the NHS in the vainglorious hope of ousting his current leader. For the Tories Brexit has always been really about the leadership and a way for them to cling to power when, ironically, it’s their policies of austerity and privatisation that fuelled leave voters’ desire to “take back control”. We can only hope that his bid to become prime minister will mean the end of this failed government and that his party will wake up to the realisation that Johnson is prepared to sacrifice not only them but his country’s prosperity on the altar of his personal ambition. The rest of us can only hope that something better will arise, phoenix-like, from this bonfire of our democracy.Margaret PhelpsPenarth, Vale of Glamorgan | • Johnson’s big problem is that, having been instrumental in swaying “the will of the people” to leave the EU, he now has to persist in his deceit of £350m a week for the NHS in the vainglorious hope of ousting his current leader. For the Tories Brexit has always been really about the leadership and a way for them to cling to power when, ironically, it’s their policies of austerity and privatisation that fuelled leave voters’ desire to “take back control”. We can only hope that his bid to become prime minister will mean the end of this failed government and that his party will wake up to the realisation that Johnson is prepared to sacrifice not only them but his country’s prosperity on the altar of his personal ambition. The rest of us can only hope that something better will arise, phoenix-like, from this bonfire of our democracy.Margaret PhelpsPenarth, Vale of Glamorgan |
| • Matthew d’Ancona is right. We have all had enough of Boris Johnson’s carefully rehearsed amiable buffoon act. He should leave the political stage before he does any more damage. He will find a natural home on the quiz show circuit, or perhaps as the head of a minor public school where he can entertain the boys and girls with his hilarious little quips.Andrew ColleyLittle Bradley, Suffolk | • Matthew d’Ancona is right. We have all had enough of Boris Johnson’s carefully rehearsed amiable buffoon act. He should leave the political stage before he does any more damage. He will find a natural home on the quiz show circuit, or perhaps as the head of a minor public school where he can entertain the boys and girls with his hilarious little quips.Andrew ColleyLittle Bradley, Suffolk |
| • Theresa May probably thinks of the old maxim that it’s better to have someone inside the tent pissing out than vice versa (Better to have backseat Boris in plain sight, 18 September). What she doesn’t appear to get is that our Boris’s outpourings are so vast and profligate that, inside or out, waterproofs and umbrellas are the order of the day, not just for her and her party, but the whole of the country she is so failing to lead.Leigh HughesSaltash, Cornwall | • Theresa May probably thinks of the old maxim that it’s better to have someone inside the tent pissing out than vice versa (Better to have backseat Boris in plain sight, 18 September). What she doesn’t appear to get is that our Boris’s outpourings are so vast and profligate that, inside or out, waterproofs and umbrellas are the order of the day, not just for her and her party, but the whole of the country she is so failing to lead.Leigh HughesSaltash, Cornwall |
| • A throwaway reference by Boris Johnson to Jeremy Corbyn as “beardy” in his Telegraph article on Brexit provides the measure of the foreign secretary. Unable to grasp appropriate standards of respect in public life, he still appears to inhabit the mentality of the Bullingdon Club of his earlier years.Keith FlettLondon | • A throwaway reference by Boris Johnson to Jeremy Corbyn as “beardy” in his Telegraph article on Brexit provides the measure of the foreign secretary. Unable to grasp appropriate standards of respect in public life, he still appears to inhabit the mentality of the Bullingdon Club of his earlier years.Keith FlettLondon |
| • I agree with John Palmer (Tory Brexit is doomed. Corbyn has a chance to build the Europe he wants, 14 September) that Labour should look to the EU if its policies for an anti-austerity recovery and greater social equality are to be achieved, as it is doubtful whether that could happen without the UK being part of a substantially reformed EU pursuing the same goals. However, he is wrong in wanting Labour to commit itself here and now to remaining in the EU. The Keir Starmer formula does by implication leave that open, but nevertheless recognises the referendum result, and failure to do this , as Palmer is recommending, would be likely to have an enormously adverse effect on Labour support, as many Labour leavers who had remained with Labour at this year’s election switched to the Tories. | • I agree with John Palmer (Tory Brexit is doomed. Corbyn has a chance to build the Europe he wants, 14 September) that Labour should look to the EU if its policies for an anti-austerity recovery and greater social equality are to be achieved, as it is doubtful whether that could happen without the UK being part of a substantially reformed EU pursuing the same goals. However, he is wrong in wanting Labour to commit itself here and now to remaining in the EU. The Keir Starmer formula does by implication leave that open, but nevertheless recognises the referendum result, and failure to do this , as Palmer is recommending, would be likely to have an enormously adverse effect on Labour support, as many Labour leavers who had remained with Labour at this year’s election switched to the Tories. |
| However, if no credible settlement was in sight by next spring, and opinion had shifted substantially to remain, then it would be right for Labour to call for the government to resign and to fight an election on a remain platform. It would be wrong to take such a position now, it may be right next year. Political parties cannot be too far in advance of public opinion.Peter RowlandsSwansea | However, if no credible settlement was in sight by next spring, and opinion had shifted substantially to remain, then it would be right for Labour to call for the government to resign and to fight an election on a remain platform. It would be wrong to take such a position now, it may be right next year. Political parties cannot be too far in advance of public opinion.Peter RowlandsSwansea |
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| Brexit | Brexit |
| Article 50 | Article 50 |
| European Union | European Union |
| Foreign policy | Foreign policy |
| Boris Johnson | Boris Johnson |
| Theresa May | Theresa May |
| letters | letters |
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