Can Boris Johnson be trusted? This has been one of the key underlying issues of the entire Brexit debate, and may be the principal flaw in his whole project.

Can Boris Johnson be trusted? This has been one of the key underlying issues of the entire Brexit debate, and may be the principal flaw in his whole project. The Prime Minister has given reassurances to his critics time and again, to persuade various groups of MPs to support his withdrawal agreement with the European Union.

One such vote was that of Melanie Onn, Labour MP for Great Grimsby, who has previously voted with the Government on Brexit against her party whip. Like a cluster of other Labour MPs, she has stated that she fears Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal opens the possibility of the deregulation of environmental protection and workers’ rights. He assured her in the House of Commons this week that it did not. She responded: “There’s a fundamental issue of trust, I’m sorry to say; trust in his word.”

Moral virtue is not Mr Johnson’s chief selling point, and many members of the Conservative Party elected him their leader knowing that. His private life is messy, and the messiness has sometimes crossed over into his public life. His persuasive skills – if not his reputation for consistency – are enhanced by his ability to tell audiences what they want to hear, even if that differs from what he told other audiences on other occasions.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login