SURVIVAL OF THE THICKEST: The coup over the chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee has claimed its first victim. The victor, Julian Lewis, has been de-Toried for proving himself more intelligent than Chris Grayling.
This begs the question: if being cleverer than Chris Grayling is a sackable offence – and it’s a very low bar – what does that say about the remaining MPs?
So now the fate of the Russia Report, an allegedly explosive document detailing how the Russians paid for Brexit and the election in December 2019, is in the hands of a man potentially hostile to Boris Johnson. Lewis could extract his revenge by publishing the whole thing, unredacted, and condemn the Vote Leave government. Who would have thought that a petulant knee-jerk reaction could have such extreme consequences?
Obviously not Way Past His Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and his de facto boss, “Classic” Dom Cummings. Johnson, judging by his hapless efforts at Prime Minister’s Questions, doesn’t have any more than the most basic thought in his head. Cummings is either less brilliant or less frightening than he clearly believes he is.
This has become something of a pattern. Act first, fill in the details later, if at all. Don’t worry about the consequences, you can blame them on somebody else. And, as with virtually everything else this government touches, the consequences are the opposite of what they promise will happen. Does exactly what it doesn’t say on the tin, you might say.
Suddenly, the race to the bottom of the barrel had become interesting. All it takes is someone to throw a spanner into the barrel reserved for fish shooting. The cat is among the pigeons and feathers will surely fly. The Russia Report could well be published as MPs go on their summer jollies. If so, it is likely that many will not return.
But it’s not all bad news. Vladivostok is lovely this time of year.