Steve3007 wrote:But apart from bikes and water cannons, what has Boris ever done for us?
Well, he has a lot of good qualities:
1. He is 'brand Boris'. Not many people are known globally by just their first name. He can carry himself on the world stage.
2. Arguably, it was his support of the Brexit campaign that really gave it weight, and affected the outcome. If that is believed then he has enormous power to influence others.
3. He obviously has a gift for publicity and self publicity - if he can turn that in to publicity for Britain with overseas investors then he could do a lot of good.
4. He has enormous capacity to create good mood and laughter - not something that many politicians have. He turned events such as being caught short, hanging from a zipwire in to a triumph, instead of what would have been deeply humiliating to many political careers. And wit is important - as we saw yesterday as many of David Cameron's cabinet remarked on his command of the despatch box, his wit and his humour. Foreign secretary is typically thought of as a sensitive role, but maybe it doesn't have to be quite so serious.
This is Boris' chance to put his money where his mouth is. Theresa May is obviously choosing to put prominent Brexit campaigners in to her cabinet, to respect the people's decision (although I was happy to see the back of Michael Gove after his recent behaviour!) so 'the proof will be in the pudding'. You're right that he has certainly put his career on the line.
Steve3007 wrote:Apparently, now he's foreign secretary, Boris has apologized for calling president Obama "a part Kenyan with an ancestral dislike of the British Empire".
Did he? I cant find that?
He said last night that he is "very humbled" by this opportunity and when asked about whether he needs to apologize to Obama, he simply side-stepped this saying that "The US will be at the front of the queue", which I thought was quite a good response. Obama was pretty rude himself I think, saying we'd be at the back.
Boris
will need to learn to be more considered in his public speaking, like in his post referendum speech. His comfort with the media, and public speaking can lead to him being too relaxed and forgetting who he's talking to, I think. I hope that now, with a more important role, Boris simply wont have time to mouth off in the same way he has in the past and perhaps wont be quite so bored. I hope he does well.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts". -Bertrand Russell