A day after being accused by the Partygate committee of “deliberately misleading” Parliament, Boris Johnson has confirmed his return to journalism as a star columnist for the conservative tabloid The Daily Mail. Its premiere was accompanied by renewed criticism for “clearly violating the rules” that affect former members of the Government, by reporting just half an hour before their “signing” to the Committee for Appointments in Companies (Acoba, for its acronym in English).
“Hello, friends, this is Boris Johnson”, the former ‘premier’, untied and in a blue shirt, introduces himself to the readers of The Daily Mail, anticipating in his usual tone what the content of his column will be: “It could be about politics of once in a while. But it’s going to be about my view of the world.”
The news generated an important political commotion and triggered the alarms of Acoba, which watches over to avoid possible conflicts of interest. By law, members of the government who have left office in the last two years must consult with the department before accepting a position with a private company to avoid conflicts of interest.
Lord Eric Pickles, head of the Acoba advisory committee, confirmed his intention to write to Johnson to “clarify” whether he is going to be a columnist for The Daily Mail. On an earlier occasion, when he returned to writing for The Daily Telegraph after resigning as Foreign Secretary with Theresa May, Johnson was warned by the organization for not having consulted its decision.
Johnson debuted in the ‘online’ edition of The Daily Mail at five in the afternoon (six in the afternoon in Spain) with an innocent column about his gluttony that surprised everyone and everyone, remembering how despite all his attempts he has been unable to to curb the impulse to “open the fridge at 11:30 p.m. to look for cheddar cheese and chorizo”.
Boris Johnson began his career as a journalist after graduating from Oxford in 1987 at The Times. He was fired from it shortly thereafter for forging a quote attributed to his own godfather, historian Colin Lucas. Shortly afterwards he joined The Daily Telegraph as a correspondent in Brussels, from where he contributed to Euroscepticism in his country with his propensity to “twist” the truth.
With his return to journalism, he had been speculating since his resignation as a deputy last Friday. One of the options being considered was his return to the weekly The Spectator, which he also directed at one time.
Rumors about his signing by The Daily Mail, the sounding board of the hard wing of the ‘Tories’, had been ringing since Thursday, with the still recent news of the Partygate committee’s devastating report. The tabloid tried to minimize the impact with low-key coverage in its “online” edition and dedicated its front page to outrage among Johnson’s allies over the “vindictive” tone of the report.
Johnson’s first column is due to be published on Friday, and is expected to serve as a personal retaliation against the committee, which he accused of committing “protracted political assassination.” It is expected that the former ‘premier’ will also take advantage of his column to continue claiming “authentic conservative values” and punishing Rishi Sunak from the right, as he has been doing in recent weeks.
On Monday, Johnson’s 59th birthday, the Partygate report will be voted on in Parliament, amid the reopened Tory civil war. The House of Commons can ultimately decide that the former ‘premier’ is vetoed and loses the privilege normally granted to former deputies to have a special access pass to Westminster.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
