Childish politics - Dave vs Boris

The fact that Boris Johnson is the Tory party favourite, above the PM, is disheartening for David Cameron. It is also concerning for UK politics; whilst Cameron is slippery, promoting a new face of Toryism yet standing at the helm of brutal cuts that the head of the IMF cautions are likely to cause the British economy even more difficulty in the long-run, Boris is a buffoon (yes, I like the alliteration of this cliché, and what?). The one-upmanship in which he engages with Cameron only serves to prove this point: it is childish, and attention seeking – the curse of the over-privileged, arrogant posh boy. And Johnson knows how to get attention: he knew that he could make a song and dance about protecting Crossrail from cuts, despite having been assured it was safe. And Cameron and Osborne went along with it. What a waste of time and energy that could have been directed elsewhere. ‘In the current economic climate’ this makes me feel so very confident.

The BJ-DC tussle is worrying because it is a diversion from the real issues. Personality is of course crucial in politics; and no matter how much we dislike this, it has been the case for over a century (take the Gladstone-Disraeli competition in the late 19^th century), perhaps longer. But Dave and Boris need to grow up: their competition only highlights the unsavoury lad-ishness of the Tory Party, which Cameron has unfortunately (for his and his party’s sake) exposed to the public through such gaffes as the Calm Down Dear, and the Lady Is Frustrated incidents. Oops. I’m not suggesting a no-jokes policy (after all, I am from Catholic not Puritan stock!), they just need to ask themselves, in the favourite phrase of my year 6 primary school teacher, “is that appropriate?” Because this is not school, this is not even university, it is ‘the real world’; and more than this, these are men whose actions impinge on the school, university, and real worlds of everyone in Britain.

See Sonia Purnell’s article in The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-camerons-bte-blond-2364610.html