I have been watching political events from the rain kissed beaches of Malaga for the last few days with increasing bewilderment. For reasons beyond my comprehension, a child has been feted by world leaders for her savant like gift of warning us of the bloody obvious; the catastrophic effects of global warming. Well, perhaps not so bloody obvious to that odd group of climate change deniers on the Rampton wing of the Tory party. She seems to have ignored the reality that the EU and particularly Britain have a really good record on this. We have been in the forefront of trying to persuade China, India and the USA that they should radically reduce their carbon emissions. There is a lot more to be done. But at least we having been working hard on this for decades. To the middle class, private schooled trustafarians aided and abetted by wacky backyed, bat shit crazy, tie died menapausians, it’s been a wonderful few days of larks, and virtue signalling. Just in time to pop on a jet with mummy and daddy to somewhere warm, their doting parents aglow with pride at how Harry and Jemima saved the world from extinction over the weekend. Yet just one sound bite from Sir David Attenborough has had far more weight and impact then any of these self indulgent clowns.
But the really big story and one that has shaken Whitehall to the core is the leak from the National Security Council. What is so shocking is that it proves something that I thought was impossible, namely, that there is a leadership candidate more ruthless, more scheming and even more cold bloodedly ambitious than Boris Johnson. And for once his hands are clean. But the mandarins want a blood sacrifice and maybe even a criminal trial. They will certainly get one or both. Journalists will be pawing through the disclosures of junkets enjoyed by the three hundred members of the All Party group on China. This should be the next Mail story. I have no evidence as yet, but I would be very surprised if millions of yen have been thrown at our tribunes for luxury fact finding tours.
Bozo is being dangerously quiet at the moment which suggests that one of Lynton Crosby’s creatures is minding him. And it appears that he has wangled a one on one with Trump. Whether this is a wishful punt or a reality remains to be seen.I also here that Raab is preparing for a big launch soon with a film about his life, his dreams and his vision. The excitement of the wait is just too much to bear.
It is strange how history repeats itself. One of the reasons that Cameron called the referendum was because UKIP was doing well in the polls and Tory chickens were terrified about losing their seats. There was much talk of defections, coalitions and deals. Brexit put an end to that and Farage left UKIP to transform from being a music hall act into a rather nasty bigoted bunch of thugs. Now the Brexit Party, which really should be the Farage Party is riding high and Tory chickens are worried about losing their seats. So there is talk of deals, coalitions, defections. But it’s far worse than before. Forty percent of Tory Councillors admit to a Farage love in and the membership would elect him leader if they could. Worse, normally sane and sensible people like Ann Widdecombe, an old friend of whom I am very fond, has become a candidate. This really is a terrible error of judgement. It adds to the myth that the Commons is conspiring to stop Brexit. It isn’t. It just can’t work out what sort of Brexit it wants. A bit like the public. And this is almost as damaging for Labour as it is for the Tories. If ever there is a time to get some variant of May’s deal through it is now. At the moment the Brexit party is just a convenient spittoon for all sorts of grievances. Give them a platform and soon they will have some other policies. That would be the end of the Conservative and Labour parties as we know it. I hope that Conservative Home will remind its readers that any party member who votes for or supports another party is automatically kicked out. If they don’t they might as well call themselves Farage Home.