Tuesday 2 July 2019

Jeremy Hunt's Canadian option plan should be implemented by Boris

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Jeremy Hunt supported Remain in the referendum campaign, after the result thought a second referendum would be needed, came round to believing in leaving but warned that leaving with no deal would be a disaster. Yesterday he announced his 10-point plan for leaving with no deal on October 31 and yet it is Boris who is accused of being unprincipled.

 “We took the decision on Friday to go ‘alt-right,'” someone in the Hunt campaign told Politico's Playbook 'jovially', on the assumption that Mr Hunt's Remainer supporters will continue to regard him as a lesser evil compared to Boris. In any case, Leavers are a big majority among Tory members, especially since large numbers joined the party to have a vote. I meant to, but left it too late.

Journalists are furious that Boris keeps avoiding them and their proposals for debate, which are attempts to take over the political agenda. I miss the days when these things were decided among MPs behind closed doors. 


Were Jeremy Hunt concerned about the best interests of his country or his party he would have stood down by now. And why is the election taking so long? Tory members can vote in a couple of days but are given weeks. 

Still, it could be very much worse. Theresa May did not succeed in remaining leader until the party conference (a conference which should not be held - politicians unlike journalists have more urgent things to do).

William Hague thinks Jeremy Hunt a really excellent minister, whereas Boris Johnson makes him laugh. No doubt he is right but we do not need an excellent minister but a leader. Boris Johnson can retain Jeremy Hunt as Foreign Secretary and probably should.

Bruce Anderson thinks Boris would be useless unless he delegated everything, but so the Prime Minister should. The Foreign Secretary should run foreign policy and the cabinet is supposed to run the country. The Prime Minister is a chairman and leader, the conductor of the orchestra, primus inter pares

I am very impressed by Mr Hunt's plan to go for the Canada option - if we in practice had regulatory alignment with the EU, as we would, this would mean we had our cake and ate it. 

But I think Boris could achieve it if he is persuaded it would work and I don't think Jeremy Hunt is as likely to get the Europeans to agree to it.

It would solve the Irish border question, end free movement and end payments to the EU. 

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