After telling business to eff off, the PM needed to impress. Instead, he went into bizarre meltdown
The only logical explanation was that Boris Johnson was out of his head on Mandrax. How else do you explain his freeform, car-crash speech to the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference in Port of Tyne? It was right up there with Theresa May’s address to the Tory party conference in 2017, in which she was handed a P45, lost her voice and the set collapsed around her.
Three years ago Johnson was overheard saying “fuck business” when some chief execs complained about the impact Brexit was having on their industries. On Monday, he managed to convey precisely the same sentiment more indirectly, merely by making no effort to engage with his audience. Or even to understand the basics of what was required. After a self-inflicted, bruising few weeks of horror headlines, you might have thought he would have wanted to reset the agenda on his – and his government’s – competence. But apparently not. What he really wanted to do was carry on taking the piss.
John Crace and Zoe Williams will be live on stage in London at a Guardian Live event on 13 December. Join the conversation in person or online – book tickets here
A Farewell to Calm by John Crace is published by Guardian Faber (£9.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
