Roger Boyes as Thunderer today:
Ever since his days as a combative and colourful Brussels correspondent, Boris Johnson has been a source of anxiety among Whitehall mandarins. The Foreign Office reportedly set up a busy Boris damage limitation unit. Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, then British ambassador to the EU, told guests in Brussels “we’re working on Boris”. That twitchiness has survived his elevation to foreign secretary. It seems the enfant terrible has been horrid to the Saudis; staff at No 10, who not so long ago were drafting anti-Boris jokes for the prime minister, say he is out of order.
Since the minister will soon be in the Gulf, since Theresa May has this week broken bread with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and since a new arms deal could be in the offing, you might agree that Boris should be bludgeoned into silence. Or at least more carefully filtered. Hang on, though, what did he actually say? That there was inadequate regional leadership in the Middle East. That proxy wars had filled the vacuum and that “the Saudis, Iran, everybody” were acting as puppetmasters for feuding groups.
The prime minister appears too eager to soothe Saudi feelings
A fair description, surely, of the unfolding tragedies in Yemen. And pretty much in line with the analysis of every major western state. The Saudis claim the war there is not so much a power-play as an existential struggle against an Iranian-backed force which has fired Scud rockets on to their soil. But Boris Johnson does not dispute this version. Rather he has committed the sin of having possibly, just possibly, offended the Saudis, doubted their capacity to lead, and therefore perhaps endangered our post-Brexit trade with the Gulf states. Our exports to the Gulf and Saudi Arabia exceed those to China and are double those going to India.
This infantilises the Saudis, makes them appear impossibly thin-skinned and our prime minister too ready to protect their feelings. The foreign secretary has understood something important about the way diplomacy now has to operate. There is still a place for secrecy and discretion but in a populist age voters want ministers to present things as they are; they value candour in international relations. Donald Trump has shown the direction of travel by tweeting a fierce riposte to criticism from Beijing; a veritable bull in a China-shop. We don’t need Trumpian bombast from Boris but let him at least robustly state some basic truths. British foreign policy will be the better for it.