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May gives Boris a taste of his own medicine

Oh dear. Is Boris Johnson’s bid to rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol over before it really began? First, Simon Hoare, the chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee, lobbed a grenade at Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, asking whether her support for the government’s bill was merely ‘a muscle flex for a future leadership bid?’ When the camera panned to Truss on the frontbench, she had, er, left her seat.

And then, in the words of King Louis XV, ‘Après moi, le déluge.’ For shortly after Hoare sat down, it was Theresa May’s time to rise to her feet. The former Prime Minister, who was effectively toppled by Johnson over the issue of Northern Ireland, served her successor a taste of his own medicine by rising to castigate his own efforts to undo the agreement which he struck in 2019.

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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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