One Johnson has certainly made headlines this week. It is not the one you think. We always knew the Prime Minister Boris Johnson was a poor Commons speaker. He, like Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, is far better at framing an argument outside Westminster. They are both able to rouse citizens, attract large crowds and make audiences happy.
No, it was Jo Johnson that really caught my attention this week. Many MPs, in anticipation of an October or November election, have already announced their intention to retire. The brother of the Prime Minister’s announcement was the most shocking. Resigning as an Education and Business Minister, he revealed the personal conflict between his family and the national interest. No longer an MP after the next election, it is clear this decision was a tricky one. For it shows he believes his brother’s direction on the central policy of the day - Brexit - is incorrect. Despite the family ties and connections, he must have felt that to remain a member of the government, which continues to advocate leaving the EU without any agreement whatsoever if a new, better deal cannot be reached, was to go against his core principles and sense of self. This is most obviously courageous. While I imagine the Johnsons would be financially secure whatever the outcome of Brexit, many people will not. Even the short term consequences and issues that hardline Brexiteers have admitted will arise in the event of no deal could be catastrophic for those ‘just about managing’, on the fine line between survival and destitution. Jo Johnson clearly felt that this has to change. He had to make a stand and felt this could be more effectively made outside of government and Parliament altogether. Ironically, this could strengthen the Prime Minister’s hand. Were a pact to be formed between the Tories and the Brexit Party, which the government continually denies will take place, and Labour leavers decide to hop over to Farage and Johnson, a Conservative landslide, that outcome Mrs May so catastrophically failed to attain, could be on the horizon. Thus the Benn legislation advocating an extension to Article 50 could be repealed and the UK leave at the end of October. Apparently the impact of Jo Johnson’s resignation had a profound effect on Boris Johnson. I’m not surprised. Despite the furore over removing the whip from 21 Conservative MPs, Mr Johnson had managed to keep his cabinet and government - made up of remainers and Brexiteers - broadly together. Jo Johnson’s resignation broke that apart. This was evident in the Prime Minister’s speech in Wakefield, a key marginal seat for the Tories at a future election. He was not the optimistic star even his critics admit he can be in speeches. The speech was unanimously received appallingly on twitter. All the political journalists and commentators I follow were not impressed. This could be due to Mr Johnson not being made aware of his brother’s intention to resign. Indeed, that the resignation was announced via Jo Johnson’s twitter suggests the spontaneity of the final decision. Reacting to that absence of loyalty just at the start of your unofficial election campaign was never going to be easy. Should we be so surprised that siblings disagree? Of course, while they are raised by the same parents in the same household in the same society with similar experience, every individual is unique and different. Boris and Jo Johnson have had uniform experience in terms of the educational institutions they attended: Eton and Balliol College, Oxford (even the same college!). But that still means their perspectives on life can differ. Boris Johnson whether for electoral advantage or principled belief (I suspect the former) wishes for Britain to leave the EU, whatever happens, at the end of October. Clearly, Jo Johnson didn’t believe that was right. The principled decision was therefore to resign. Yet they should still be able to get on well, love each other and remain loyal to one another. The bond, unity and togetherness that family life brings should transcend and override political disputes. I’m sure I agree and disagree with my parents and extended family on many matters, political or not. That doesn’t prevent me from loving them wholly. They raised me and gave me all the opportunities I am lucky enough to have today. Loving those around you dearly and profoundly disagreeing with them on matters are not mutually exclusive. The political question remains for me why Jo Johnson entered his brother’s government in the first place. You can see why he supported Boris for the leadership - apparently he had wanted to be ‘World King’ from a very young age. Mr Johnson could have supported his brother’s leadership bid but as a backbencher. Yet to enter his government means collective responsibility is rightly enforced. Jo Johnson would have known he was agreeing to leave the EU on the 31st of October potentially without a deal. This was even though he resigned from Theresa May’s government due to fundamentally disagreeing with her deal. Not from the perspective of a spartan Brexiteer, but as a remainer who supported a second referendum. It must have been obvious to him that a second referendum was the last thing the Prime Minister wanted, especially with remain on the ballot paper. Given the composition of the rest of Johnson’s government, there was little chance of Jo Johnson winning the argument on a People’s Vote from the inside. So the question remains on why he reentered government in the first place. That will be for him to answer. Values and family should go together. People should be able to remain a loving member of the family while wholly disagreeing with a political approach. The Prime Minister’s sister Rachel Johnson has done so, joining the Liberal Democrats and Change UK in the fight against Brexit. The Johnson’s father Stanley supported remaining in the EU but has since accepted departure. It appears Leo Johnson has managed to stay out of the limelight all together. Despite the Johnson’s wealthy status, they act as a synecdoche for families up and down the nation. Politically, they have been split apart over Brexit, all arguing their own view on the UK’s relationship with Europe. Personally, I have no doubt love, kindness and affection remains the same, as I hope it does in most families..Indeed, I have little reason to doubt that on all issues bar the European one, the Johnsons are far more united and aligned in their position. That is the key to disagreeing in a courteous, respectable, dignified manner that is so lacking in our public discourse.
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