11 September 2020

Boris Johnson’s short speech to Tory MPs shows he still doesn’t understand his problem

The Prime Minister’s response to MPs who think he has little time for them has deepened, not eased, their concerns.

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 9: Prime Minister Boris Johnson attends a virtual press conference at Downing Street on September 9, 2020 in London, England. As from Monday September 14, people in England will only be allowed to socialise in groups of six or less people following the announcement from the Prime Minister. This is to help curb the recent rise in Coronavirus cases. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau- WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Boris Johnson has addressed Conservative MPs in a bid to reassure them that the Internal Market Bill is above board and proper, and also, partially, to claw back some of the damage that Downing Street’s poor parliamentary management has done to his government’s standing among backbenchers.

How did he do? Well, on the former, it depends how much Tory MPs want a pretext not to rebel. Johnson’s claim that the Internal Market Bill is a necessary step to prevent a foreign state from dividing the United Kingdom into two regulatory blocs is simply untrue. Since Ireland achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1922, both countries have pursued a degree of regulatory alignment in order to facilitate an open and relatively frictionless border between the two countries. This has been a strategic priority of both states for almost a century.