This prime minister has to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to do right thing

Some Tory MPs are said to be frustrated with Boris Johnson’s leadership, or lack of it, the U-turns and the bumbling, the failure to get a grip. But, what did they expect?

Clever quips and showmanship will only go so far, eventually grown up decisions have to be made, preferably the right ones.

I had thought that the prime minister’s serious illness might help him to mature, but this, of course, was a forlorn hope. He is now too far gone, to wedded to the oddest of cronies.

The civil service is being compromised, the Brexit negotiations are heading for disaster under David Frost, and moral as well as practical leadership on Covid-19 seems to have been ceded to Nicola Sturgeon.

Mr Johnson seems only to reach the right decisions if he is dragged there, kicking and screaming.

Seeing the Cabinet return to London hardly lifts the grim mood. The last time I saw such a disappointing crew was in 1997, before they were all swept away by Tony Blair’s victory. We can hope for the same from Sir Keir Starmer, but that might be four years away.

Are there any potential leaders who can pull Mr Johnson in vaguely the right direction until then, or until he is removed? Well, not Michael Gove, who fails to understand that being very clever is useless if you are also shamelessly disingenuous.

We should also remember that Mr Gove originally gave us Dominic Cummings. That should tell us a great deal of what we need to know.

Only a few Cabinet ministers seem unafraid of Mr Cummings, perhaps Rishi Sunak is one. Perhaps he and the Treasury, still great powers in their own right, will develop sound policies on the economy, the pandemic, and Brexit, and get us through the next few years in one piece.

A couple of years should be long enough for people to comprehensively tire of Mr Johnson, especially if there are obvious alternatives such as Mr Sunak from the Conservatives, Sir Keir Starmer from Labour and, indeed, Sir Ed Davey from the Liberal Democrats.

Boris Johnson was atrociously disloyal to Theresa May. He deserves no loyalty himself, and he will understand that loyalty is no longer the Conservative Party’s strong suit.

The hour glass has already been turned, the sands are already running.

John Gemmell, Wem, Shropshire

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