The sun is shining, gradually winning its daily battle with the lingering winter chill.
The radio shows have begun to play songs in major keys with big, bright choruses. The daffodils in the garden have poked an exploratory nose through the soil. The tits twitter and swoop – they, at least, seem convinced that spring is finally here.
It is coming, certainly, and how badly we need it. Shining mornings and gauzy evenings are balm for the soul, a reminder that renewal and redemption are always possible, that the dark and the cold are always temporary, that solace will find us.
And yet it is hard to avoid the sensation that it is all some sort of category error. The personal enjoyment of earth’s glories, the first coffee of the day in the garden, the kids shrieking and chattering in the park, seems to verge on obscenity as bombs fall and innocents die on the European continent.
Boris Johnson’s speech reminded us of his humiliating limitations
For as long as the vampire of the Kremlin is able to satisfy his blood lust it somehow feels wrong to allow one’s spirits to be lifted, to take comfort in blooming freshness. The awesome power of spring may sweep away nature’s shadows and cobwebs, but it will not do for Putin.
Spring brings with it an urge to clean, too – to dispose of all the detritus we have collected over the past year, to root out that which is no longer wanted on the journey as we set our priorities for the months ahead. Here, at least, is something Britain can act upon.
Boris Johnson went to Aberdeen last Friday to speak at the annual Scottish Conservative conference. His invitation had initially been withdrawn as the charges of law-breaking and lying were arraigned against him and as his Scottish MSPs as one demanded he evacuate Downing Street.
But conflict in Ukraine has inevitably shifted perspectives, and a wartime prime minister stands as a symbol of national unity amid such crisis. The ban was rescinded, and Johnson was well received at the P&J Live hall – before moving on to take more acclaim at his party’s main spring gathering in Blackpool.
But even there, he was unable to get through his short speech without reminding us of his humiliating limitations.
Ill-judged comparison to Ukraine
Comparing the brave Ukrainian battle for their homeland against a murderous aggressor to the UK’s vote for Brexit was so spectacularly ill-judged as to be genuinely shocking.
“It sounded better written down than when it was spoken,” according to a prime ministerial aide, which invites only one response: eh?
Must we continue on this path? Must we be lumbered with a prime minister so lacking in sure-footedness that even in moments of emotional togetherness he can find ways to divide us, intentionally or not? It only serves as a reminder that Johnson was poorly suited to No 10 before war broke out, and remains poorly suited now. Ukraine may have bought him a reprieve, but that is all it can be.
'When the British people voted for Brexit in such large numbers… it was because they wanted to be free'https://t.co/so6GRnT6FV pic.twitter.com/KAvl6VtI9j
— ITV News (@itvnews) March 19, 2022
Even when this war is over – we pray sooner rather than later – the challenges it poses will live on. A horrific global energy crisis is upon us, inflation will play havoc with the cost of living, there will be restrictions on key foodstuffs that will soon likely be all too visible on the supermarket shelves.
Our relationship with the reinvigorated EU must be rethought, at trade, diplomatic and defence levels. Nato and the G7 will have big decisions to make about international relationships, not just with Russia but with China and Iran and North Korea.
Time for a spring clean of politics
The level of attention and expertise required to work through all of this will be profound. Tactics and strategy must be set by Downing Street and the wider cabinet. The current unity of the country will have to be nurtured and maintained and the divisions of Brexit put behind us. Wisdom and judgement will be at a premium.
When you consider all this, it’s plain that Boris Johnson cannot be allowed to continue as prime minister. He lacks the political skills, the intellectual acuity and the moral character for the task. He will, as we saw at the weekend, continue to implode at inopportune moments. He will choose short-term political calculation, his own self-interest, as he always has in the past. He is, in short, not up to it.
The biggest favour the Conservatives can do for the UK when the immediate military crisis has passed is to get those letters into Sir Graham Brady at the 1922 committee, and help the country close the door on one of the most ludicrous and unpleasant periods in our democratic history. We deserve better.
With the season of change and renewal upon us it is time for a spring clean. Our new broom must sweep Boris Johnson to the kerb.
Chris Deerin is a leading journalist and commentator who heads independent, non-party think tank, Reform Scotland
