Cometh the hour, cometh the man — but how will boris johnson seize the day? | thearticle

For Boris Johnson, all his Christmases seem have come at once. Yet this is still only Advent. In the words of Psalm 23, “Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou

anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” This week’s huge stockmarket rally is the icing on last week’s electoral cake: the small investors’ reward for having done the right thing.

Others will be more richly rewarded: not only the expected peerages for Zac Goldsmith, who lost his seat, and Nicky Morgan, who did not even contest hers, but they will keep their seats at

the Cabinet table too. This is a sign that the Prime Minister will show favour to those who are loyal to him. What else is patronage for? And yet he must beware of letting meritocracy be

usurped by cronyism. Morgan and Goldsmith may well be able ministers, but there is a reason for the convention that Secretaries of State must be answerable to the Commons. It’s about

democracy. Voters’ verdicts must be respected. It’s true that Mrs Thatcher made an exception for her first Foreign Secretary; Lord Carrington, a hereditary peer. And it’s also true that

Disraeli and Salisbury sat in the Lords as Prime Minister. _Autre temps, autre moeurs. _This is not a Government of the 20th or 19th centuries. If the Tories are serious about reforming

broadcasting, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport will be in the firing line. The buck there ought to stop with an elected politician. Baroness Morgan should be a caretaker Culture

Secretary only until the major post-Brexit reshuffle. These are trifles, however. Far more important as an indicator of the direction of travel is the decision to rule out an extension of

trade talks with the EU beyond next year. Getting Brexit done must mean precisely that. And now the boot is on the other foot. Hardly any EU governments enjoy a comparably decisive mandate

to that of the British Tories. The only prominent exceptions — Viktor Orbàn’s Fidesz in Hungary and Jaroslaw Kawczynski’s Law and Justice in Poland — prove the rule: both are critical of the

EU. The Continental norm is coalition. When he came to office last summer, Boris Johnson was laughed at by some of his EU counterparts. Not any more. The sniggering has been replaced by

sneaking admiration. The British, who were divided under Theresa May, are now united. It is the EU that is divided between the populists and, well, the less populists. Orbàn, who is a big

fan of Boris, will support his bid to conclude a rapid free trade deal with Brussels. Other leaders may follow suit. Even Emmanuel Macron, who is a populist of the centre-Left, may decide

that delaying Brexit is no longer politically advantageous. The French President fears that a new wave of strikes and protests is coming that could submerge his grandiose plans and threaten

his re-election in 2022. He is in frequent private contact with the Prime Minister, of whom he is said to have a high opinion. Macron has already made a big public gesture of reconciliation.

“To our British friends,” he tweeted after Tory triumph. “With Brexit you are leaving the EU, but you are not leaving Europe. You remain by our side, and we remain by yours.” No previous

French President would make that crucial distinction between Europe and the EU. But Jupiter evidently sees his friend Boris as a useful ally during the twilight years of Angela Merkel. The

world is his oyster, but Boris Johnson must beware. Not all of those who will now be eager to cultivate his friendship mean this country well. The United States is our staunchest ally and

Boris was born there. He knows how to handle Donald Trump better than any other British politician. The Anglosphere is the first priority, followed by Israel, India and Japan. But Presidents

Putin and Xi will be leaving their calling cards next. In Moscow and Beijing he should sup with a very long spoon. Those who claim that the UK has lost prestige in the years since 2016 may

be right, but prestige can soon be regained. Taking an independent stance on foreign policy can only enhance Britain’s standing in the world. Austria has just broken with the rest of the EU

by curtailing the activities of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement that targets not only Israel but all businesses and institutions in Europe that have connections with the

Jewish State. Boris Johnson has promised a similar but more modest measure aimed at local authorities. He should take a leaf from the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s book and ban BDS

here too. Nothing would make clearer to the Jewish community here that the defeat of Jeremy Corbyn was also a defeat for anti-Semitism in all its forms.