Boris Johnson’s first full week as prime minister included a slump in the pound, the Bank of England warning of a possible recession, claims that his Brexit policy could break up the United Kingdom and a defeat in the Brecon by-election.
It also included the publication of opinion polls showing a “Boris bounce” for the Conservatives, with one survey suggesting the new prime minister had opened up a 10-point lead over Labour, squeezing Nigel Farage’s Brexit party in the process.
The last seven days have illustrated, if there were any doubt, that Mr Johnson’s premiership will not run on straight lines. But there were clues in the chaotic first week of the Johnson era of what might happen next. Mr Johnson’s aides claimed that the dive in the value of sterling to a 2½-year low was evidence that business and markets were “finally taking seriously” the idea that Britain would exit the EU on October 31 in all circumstances, the Financial Times’ George Parker reports.
In terms of Brexit, the article says that EU diplomats, who had cleared their diaries in August for a round of frenetic new Brexit negotiations, now wonder why they bothered. “We might as well go on holiday,” said one. Mr Johnson’s mission to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was, however, a reminder of how much is at stake if he gets Brexit wrong; he was repeatedly told that a no-deal exit could break up his country. “We knew it would be difficult — but it was absolutely necessary to hear it first hand,” said one ally.
The full analysis of Johnson’s first week in Government can be read here.
