Boris Johnson was a liar and had to go. It appears they are allowed to say that even in the Palace of Westminster, in certain circumstances, where dignity has traditionally banned such offensive words. Johnson might have thought he could roar and primp and bluster a few more months into the safety zone of another general election, as he half-implied at his last, raucous question time in the Commons on Wednesday. His favoured weapon, his tongue, might enable him to fight another day. But he had told a lie too many. He was doomed.
I still feel historians will find the swift fall of Johnson puzzling. Politics has long been a conspiracy of mendacities. Johnson seized power through telling lies about the benefits of freeing Britain’s economy from the EU’s single market. Since Brexit the Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated a 4% drop in UK growth, which the FT calculates as £40bn in lost tax revenue every year owing to Johnson’s hard deal. Just over half the electorate now think leaving the EU was a mistake. History might imagine this played some part in Johnson’s departure. But no – he is going because of lying about parties and what he knew of the misbehaviour of a whip.
