He has mutinous backbenchers, he’s being outflanked by the opposition. The prime minister is fast running out of credibility
Ask any opponent of Boris Johnson what winds them up about him and it won’t be very long before they mention bananas. The prime minister used the fruit as a campaigning device in the 2016 referendum, claiming that the EU dictates “what shape our bananas have got to be” as evidence of Brussels meddling. There was rather less behind the claim than merited the attention it got: European commission regulations merely divide bananas into classes so those buying them know what sort they are getting. But it was typical of Johnson’s ability to make a point in primary colours while winding up the other side.
This weekend, as the talks on a post-Brexit trade and security deal reach their endgame, Johnson might think the bananas have had their time. Things are different now. He spent yesterday on the phone to Ursula von der Leyen trying to break the negotiations out of their deadlock and he has less opportunity to play political games while trying to deal with Covid. But the state of his party is such that he does need a bold, colourful way of changing the political debate.
