D-Lite

There seems to be a growing attitude amongst even the most non-politically-bothered of the British public that Boris Johnson and his government aren’t particularly doing a good job in regards to the rony rone (I’m avoiding saying Coronavirus or Covid-19 because, you know, serious and boring). As much as we all know that we can’t trust polls(!), an Observer poll released as recently as April 9th had the Conservatives polling at 55%, a number enough to pull the single-highest seat total in modern British history, as well as being 26% ahead of the Labour Party.

So when the Observer released a poll on the 30th May that had the Conservatives at a still-formidable 43%, but Labour merely 4 point behind on 39%, there was an understanding that the discourse around Britain’s leadership and strategy in regards to Miss Rona was changing. Between entering into our 10th week of lockdown, daily new cases yet to stay below 2000 (despite Italy, Spain, France and Germany curtailing it into the low hundreds), the 5th highest death-toll per capita (with #1 and #3 being the micro-nations of San Marino and Andorra, respectively) and a media circus surrounding Dominic Cummings himself breaking the lockdown rules – and then spinning some spectacular tales live to the nation – the change of public opinion is pretty understandable.

It is interesting, then, that Boris Johnson is finally trying his hand at the age-old, tried and tested strategy of the right wing – shutting down the media. In an age which we can now rather comfortably describe as ‘post-truth’, shutting down journalists has seen a fantastic revitalisation in the west between Hungary’s Viktor Orban and USA’s Donald Trump. So Boris Johnson trying his hand at it should come as no surprise to anybody.

The problem, however, is that when Trump does it you expect it. We’ve all become accustomed to his outbursts, his offhand remarks, his not-so-subtle racism, homophobia, prejudice and overall stupidity. But amongst it there is a naturalness, a feeling that this isn’t something he is just doing as much as it is something he actively does. The way he speaks to journalists and the way he speaks about them, openly criticising their values and their adherence to the truth, you can picture in the boardroom of Trump Tower or some seedy office in the west wing of the White House. And don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me excusing it or admiring it, I’m simply highlighting that with Trump shutting down journalists seem natural. There’s something wholly American about it – a particular brashness entrenched in American culture that his voter base responds to. For Boris Johnson, however, it rolls off the tongue like a Middle Ages Ballad. In attempting to do his best Trump impression, not allowing the Chief Scientific Adviser and the Chief Medical Officer to answer a question directly addressed to them, he highlighted exactly why he is not Donald Trump and, in turn, why his support appears to be waning by the day.

The way Johnson did it on 28th May was clunky, awkward, and utterly transparent. ‘And if… if I may… interpose, as it were’ were his words before answering a Cummings-related question towards Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty, who have stood beside the Prime Minister at numerous press conferences over these past few months. When the next journalist then asked how the pair felt about the Prime Minister answering for them, and if there was anything else they weren’t allowed to speak about, both of them very quickly interjected about how they ‘don’t want to get dragged into politics’. Well, I hate to break this to you boys, but you’re the Chief Scientific Adviser and Chief Medical Officer to the British Government – you’ve been dragged into politics, and none of us recall you kicking and screaming about it. Their answers were too fast, to precise, too quick to shut down giving a genuine answer about the Prime Minister answering for them, almost as if they had been briefed prior to the press conference. I also have a strong feeling that you’ll have to spare the British public from this ‘I don’t want to get dragged into politics’ behaviour, because all politics is at its core is a way of solving problems, and the ‘vid is the most pressing problem the world over right now.

If Americans respond to the way Trump talks from either end, side or angle of the political spectrum, there appears to be a lack of response to Johnson from the British. The very sight of Donald Trump can produce love, gratitude, disgust or anger, and his shutting down of journalists bring a ‘this is what America needs!’ or ‘this is an affront to democracy!’. The reaction to Boris Johnson doing it, in quintessential British fashion I might add, was mainly just ‘what is that idiot doing?’.

Like more or less everything since the fourth week of lockdown, Boris Johnson’s actions have created an image of a man drinking the water to survive whilst stranded at sea. And with his latest Trump-lite actions, the public might be, just might be, getting tired of it.