“Operation gnawing bone”: Boris Johnson’s plan to save his head

Lift restrictions against Covid-19, use the army to block migrants, cut off supplies to the BBC … To forget the scandals and save his job, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing, according to the media , a series of seductive shock announcements for his electorate.

Caught in a whirlwind of revelations about parties organized in Downing Street while the United Kingdom lived under strict health constraints, the conservative leader is currently going through his worst crisis since his spectacular accession to power in the summer of 2019. They add to an already long list of accusations of corruption and patronage.

His mea culpa in Parliament, where he acknowledged his presence at one of these parties in May 2020 while claiming that he thought it was a working meeting, was not enough. Calls for his resignation have multiplied, even within his majority. From there to admit defeat, despite disastrous polls, however, there is a step that Boris Johnson, known for his baguette, blunders and antics, is not ready to take.

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Migrants in the line of fire

According to the media, the bubbly leader with the mayonnaise-yellow hair plans to launch the counter-attack with a battery of populist-sounding announcements gathered under the code name “Operation Red Meat”.

He, who has made the fight against immigration his hobbyhorse in the wake of Brexit, thinks of using the Royal Navy to stop the flow of migrants trying to reach England illegally by crossing the Channel. The latter would be sent to countries such as Rwanda and Ghana to see their case processed, writes the Times. According to The Guardian, this idea had already been mentioned but with Albania as a country of refuge, until the State declared that it had never heard of this British announcement.

Moreover, for the target audience, namely grassroots Conservative voters, the argument for this project is that it could, if it works as planned, make the crossing safer and thus reduce the number of people who kill themselves in La Manche, analyze again The Guardian. “The government is exploring all avenues to prevent further level crossings and details of how this can be achieved will be known in due course,” confirmed a Defense Ministry spokesman, mentioned in The Independant.

The BCC in the viewfinder

Another subject which arouses an outcry, even among celebrities such as actor Hugh Grant who fear for the survival of the BBC, the freezing then the abolition in 2027 of the fee financing the activity of this public audiovisual group, regularly targeted by those in power who accuse him of bias. In the midst of galloping inflation, this would make it possible to pass a controversial increase in social security contributions.

Opposition Labor quoted in The Independant described it as a “really obvious and pathetic distraction from a prime minister and a government that has no road left and whose leadership hangs by a thread”.

Guardian journalist Gaby Hinsliff believes the idea may be appealing to conservative voters. But casting it as “a purely political attack on the BBC only provokes backlash, making any ensuing legislation less likely to pass through the House of Lords”, and thus may never see the light of day.

Lifting of health restrictions

As for the restrictions against the Covid-19 still in place such as teleworking and wearing a mask indoors, considered to be draconian by part of his camp, they would be lifted on January 26.

“Not only would that be warmly welcomed by MPs conservatives skeptics about the containment, but it would also prevent another massive rebellion if he tried to renew them”, underlines The Independant, according to which Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden signaled over the weekend that there were “encouraging signs” for the remaining restrictions to be lifted.

The current government should finally tackle the backlog of the health service budget, the NHS, well encroached by the health crisis which has lasted for two years now.

If this operation “is a strategy to survive only the next few days, rather than the next few years, then for now it may be the best an office full of people fearing being laid off can do” , judges journalist Gaby Hinsliff. “If the deputies obtained a lot of measures that they demand (…) they could still keep (Boris Johnson) in power”, analyzes in turn Robin Pettitt, at least until the next big test of the local elections in early May. A simple smokescreen? If he fails to implement these measures, “this is where the project could fail,” he warns. Six Tory deputies admitted to having introduced letters of defiance, but they would be about thirty to have done so. 54 are needed to dislodge it.

And the “Save Big Dog” operation

Boris Johnson has so far managed to temporize by referring, like his ministers, to the forthcoming conclusions of the investigation into these festive events by a senior official, Sue Gray, known for her integrity.

To ease the pressure on the Prime Minister, a flock of aides would be asked to come out the door in another operation dubbed ‘Save Big Dog’, including his secretary who originally the sending of a hundred invitations for the May 2020 party and which he would have nicknamed his “loyal labrador”, according to the Sunday Times.

L'Express

His supporters would also have been called upon to praise his achievements, including the implementation of Brexit and the massive vaccination campaign against Covid. “We are all human, we make mistakes,” Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi told Times Radio. But on major issues, “he made the right decisions,” he added. “All of that is in the past,” Robin Pettitt puts it into perspective, and unless there are further accomplishments, “the credit for past successes will begin to fade.”


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