Labour is gearing up for the wrong fight against Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson is sometimes compared to Winston Churchill, not least by the man himself. Unfortunately for Britain’s new Prime Minister, most of these comparisons are fatuous. But there are some similarities. Both are politically fluid and both share an enormous sense of ambition propelling them in unexpected and contrary directions. So far, we have had two Johnsons: One Nation Boris, the expansive liberal Tory, the man who won Labour London, not once but twice. More recently, we’ve has Brexit Boris, whose constituency seems to have been reduced to the hard-faced men and women of Leave.

It is Brexit Boris that Jeremy Corbyn’s advisers choose to see: they believe he is an enemy with whom they can do profitable business. Owen Jones even described Johnson as ‘the establishment in human form’. To their eyes he is the ultimate entitled toff, one defined by casual racism and a questionable attitude to women. Johnson’s desire to ingratiate himself with the supposedly diabolical Donald Trump means he is the ideal figure against whom they believe they can mobilise a divided party.