I yield to no one in my admiration for Boris Johnson as a writer. His newspaper columns are words of prose that most of us jobbing hacks could never even hope to emulate. His use of the English language can be exquisite. So can his use of Greek or Latin for that matter. Like his hero Winston Churchill, one can imagine him pondering every word to wonder if it could be bettered. Or just possibly he bashes a column off in twenty minutes and hopes no one notices. We’ve all done it. Ahem.

The trouble for Boris is that every word he now writes is seen through the prism of a future Conservative leadership contest. He is the Michael Heseltine de nos jours. Ironic really, given he succeeded him as MP for Henley back in 2001. As Mr Tesco might say, every word counts. And every word can also count against him.

Boris’s latest Telegraph column, in which he argued that the Burqa should not be banned was completely undermined by his ridicule of muslim women who deign to wear the garment. He said they look like letterboxes, as well as faintly ridiculous. On the face of it, relatively harmless stuff, but in reality quite dangerous.

These were words which spoke to a certain section of the population Boris Johnson needs to win over if he is ever to become prime minister or win an election. Or so he clearly thinks.

I don’t believe these words were written in error. They were deliberate. They may or may not have been influenced by the odious Steve Bannon, with him the former Foreign Secretary has apparently been talking and texting -  a fact which in itself shows the judgement of a pensioner driving the wrong way up the M6. Not only that, if it’s true, it ought to preclude him from ever holding high office again.

Brandon Lewis, the Tory Party Chairman, rightly laid down the gauntlet to Boris, asking him to apologise for words which not only offended a lot of muslim women, but indirectly may have put some of them in danger from far right thugs who no doubt thought “Well if Boris can take a pop at them, I’ll go one step further”. The Prime Minister followed Lewis’s lead, but Boris let it be known that he wasn’t backing down.

Some are giving Boris the benefit of the doubt and maintaining his comments were not at all divisive and it was all a storm in a teacup. The trouble is, we’ve been here before, haven’t we?

On racial issues, I’ve always given Boris the benefit of the doubt. His ‘Picaninies with watermelon smiles’ comment, I could explain away. His Sun column mentioning Barack Obama’s part Kenyan ancestry as a reason why he might remove the Churchill bust from the Oval office, well, it’s a fact that Obama is half Kenyan, but... I could go on. Individually none of these comments can be said to be definitively racist when put in context. But put together it does beg the question as to whether we have a putative Conservative leadership candidate who is deliberately blowing the kind of dog whistle which appeals to the darker nether regions of the Conservative Party and beyond.

If this strategy is deliberate, it is not only disgraceful, but a huge miscalculation. In order to get to the membership ballot, Boris Johnson must win the support of his fellow MPs and get into the top two. Even before this week I thought the chances of that happening were diminishing by the week. Now I’m convinced.

‘He lacks judgement’. ‘He’s all piss and wind’. ‘He doesn’t actually believe in anything’. Those are the three comments you hear most from Tory MPs about Boris. Yes, he’s got stardust. You only have to walk down the street with him to realise he has an appeal other MPs can only dream of. Whatever ‘it’ is, he’s got it in bucketfulls. Some people see that as proof that he’s an election winner – something which appeals to a lot of Tory MPs in marginal seats. But is it enough?

I watched the film ‘Darkest Hour’ last weekend, which shows Churchill’s path to power and his first few weeks leading up to Dunkirk. It struck me that Boris genuinely believes he is a latter day Churchill – destined to lead the country in the post Brexit era. I was three years old when Churchill died, so I never met him. But I’ve read enough to know that Boris is no Churchill. Well, not Winston anyway. Randolph, maybe.

I remember being the first person to interview Boris back in 2007 when he decided to run for Mayor of London. My opening question was, I thought, a softball. What he would do on day one as Mayor? “Well, er, I would, ahem, er, I think I would, well….” And so it went on. Answer came there none. “Empty vessel,” I thought.

It’s unfair to say Boris is a politician without conviction. He has one – that he will become Prime Minister. The prospect of that ever happening is lessening by the day. And he only has one person to blame. Himself.

 

Reading

Eddie Mair is joining LBC in September. To me he’s one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, names  in speech radio. It’s a real coup for LBC. His book A FACE FOR RADIO is a delight and provides numerous examples of the kind of self-deprecating humour everyone has come to appreciate on PM. I’m also editing the manuscript of a hitherto unknown about set of political diaries by a major figure from the Thatcher era. I do love a juicy political diary.

Watching

I finally got around to watching the DVD of The Greatest Showman. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack for a good few months and now know all the songs off by heart. I don’t normally like musical movies but this is a stunner. Outstanding in every respect. So impressive was the acting that I didn’t even realise Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron played the two main characters until the credits rolled. Idiot that I am.

Listening

I have 40,000 songs on my iPhone. Being slightly autistic I have created several playlists, one of which is packed with Trance music. I haven’t quite yet gone to the lengths of flying to Ibiza and whipping my shirt off in a club, but you never know. Gareth Emery is my favourite creator of Trance. I’ve now downloaded everything he has ever done. I don’t know quite what he does on the tracks since all the songs are sung by females, but whatever it is, he’s very good at it.

Travelling

As you read this over your Saturday cornflakes, I’ll be in the air flying off to Iznacker in Spain for a few days of total rest. We’re staying with friends who have emigrated there from Norwich and renovated a very run-down house. It has a wonderful pool on a hillside overlooking a lake. I love the heat, which, given it’s been 46 degrees this week is probably just as well.