I don’t know if Boris Johnson is as surprised to be prime minister as those who’ve known him for 20 years, and worked for him when he was Spectator editor, and became incredibly grumpy at his seeming pathological inability to make up his mind.
But it all felt a bit unreal and disconcerting to see Johnson at the dispatch box today in the Commons – even though I’ve been calling him a shoo-in for the job for months. I presume the sense of detachment will dissipate.
One thing Johnson has made up his mind about, seemingly, is that – in the words he uttered to MPs – any negotiated deal to leave the EU ‘goes by way of the abolition of the backstop’.
He said the same thing during the leadership campaign.
But it matters that he confirmed in his very first speech as PM in parliament that he wants the Withdrawal Agreement that Theresa May negotiated with EU leaders reopened and the lengthy section ripped up that is designed to keep open the border on the island of Ireland.
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