It is really hard to put into words just what a shambles the Boris Johnson government has been – you really can’t. So instead lets us all reflect for a moment that he has been required to self isolate because he has been incontact with another MP who has been diagnosed as having Covid. Now there are many mitigating circumstances that can be wheeled out in Johnson’s defence and no doubt as I sit here and write this they are being regurgitated on BBC and Sky News. Plausible or otherwise these excuses might be it doesn’t hide the fact that this whole operation is just falling apart in front of our eyes. Now it is not as if this wasn’t an important week with the Brexit trade deal in the balance as well as the millions things a Prime Minister is expected to do during the week.
On the subject of the Brexit I suspect some people within the EU will see this as a time to try and hold Britain to the fire and try and get a better deal for the EU. I feel that that would be a really big mistake. The one thing that Johnson has made his name over was Brexit and being nasty to the EU. Given his current weak position it would be only too tempting on his part to show he has balls and walk away from any deal on offer. It won’t, in my view, be in Britain’s short term let alone long term interests if he does that but neither will it be in the EU’s as they will have messed up big style. The only thing that makes me think that this won’t happen is that Angela Merkel is running things at the moment and so she is not likely to let this sort of thing happen. However, it will be a close run thing but let us all hope that a deal can be struck this week and perhaps Brexit can be finally put to bed and Britain and the Europe can then go back to squabbling over goddess knows what – just like we have done for a lot longer than the EU has existed.
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