There is an old Whitehall story, probably apocryphal, concerning a minister not especially well liked by his officials delivering an important policy speech to some august body, writes Philip Johnston.
Not long into his oration he turned over a sheet of paper on which was written: “You’re on your own now matey.” The remainder of what he imagined would be a 20-minute speech was blank.
Watching Boris Johnson’s address to the CBI on Monday, I wondered if the same prank had been played on him as he rummaged through the pages looking for something, anything, to latch onto. Brilliantly he remembered he’d been to Peppa Pig World with his family at the weekend so he could talk about that.
It was vintage Boris, the juxtaposition of the colloquial alongside the consequential to make a serious point. It was a technique he had honed over many years as a newspaper columnist and after dinner speaker. Once upon a time, it would have had his audience in stitches.
Yet it bombed, triggering another round of “what’s wrong with Boris?” head-shaking in the party and “we told you so” sniggering from his detractors.
