Is Boris Johnson an anarchist

Is Boris Johnson an anarchist? Yes, you may well laugh but in 2021 the world media and American opposition parties called Donald Trump an anarchist. Trump’s actual involvement in the storming of the Capitol building, is still open to conjecture but there can be no conjecture about Boris Johnson’s involvement in Brexit. He was and is one of the main perpetrators. So most definitely from the EU perspective he fits the definition of an anarchist, that description would probably also be supported by the pro-European voice in the UK. At the time of writing the ‘informed’ media refer to the former leaders interfering comments on the Northern Ireland Protocol negotiations. True or exaggerated, we do not know but we can imagine the non-elected EU leaders getting into a tizzy and declaring Boris Johnson the world’s most dangerous anarchist!

The upper-class elitist establishment who meets for afternoon tea in the UK would probably describe him as a frivolous political agitator or perhaps using extreme terms such as militant chic or radical chic. There are other descriptive words used but these we do not print. The context still is, he agitated against the standard state, spoke out against the establishment, and had a vision which differed from the normal political and we must add media rhetoric. Does that alone make him an anarchist?

Educated at Eton, that bastion of ‘Britishness clones’, Johnson fits the bill of the well-off kid from the established minor aristocracy. Not your standard anarchist material, yet he seems to have broken the mould or at least tried to by being non-conformist. Baptised a Catholic but joined the Anglican church. To the Roman church this is about the biggest act of anarchy an individual can commit. Apart from perhaps becoming a Presbyterian or if you live in Scotland, being a member of the ‘Free Church’, as the MSP Kate Forbes is learning.

Accused by the media of wanting Britain to be a renegade state, which we would say is fair comment, commentators have also likened Johnson’s political ideology to liberalism and libertarianism. Since the Brexit campaign, he (Johnson) has criticised the “cynicism of the elite” about Brexit, described an “elite conspiracy to thwart Brexit“, and accused the elite of being “frankly indifferent to the suffering that their policies are causing“. The later comment, Jura Oped would certainly allude too.

To the Parliamentarian’s Johnsons disregard for sedate procedures became political anarchy as in August 2019, Johnson declared he had asked the Queen to prorogue parliament  from the 10 September, narrowing the window in which parliament could block a no-deal Brexit. The Queen at Privy Council approved prorogation later the same day, and it began on 10 September, scheduled to last until 14 October. Johnson believed he done that great anarchistic deed in that he had struck a blow for the working-class UK people, who had voted for Brexit. As history shows it was political suicide, well at least for the moment.

The present incumbents in Westminster remain the lackies of the dominant, elitest and closed financial interest, who have a complete disregard for their fellow man and woman, regardless of the proliferations of the World Economic Forum at Davos.

Whilst it may be hard to say the incumbents in the Scottish Parliament are dominated by the financial institutions, their dictatorial attitude led by their now defunct leader Nicola Sturgeon is perhaps worse as they seem to treat the people of the land as if they are uneducated serfs. It was always clear that Johnson’s cavalier anarchistic type attitude was never going to fit with the SNP’s domineering institutional cabal.

In 2020 Boris Johnson was being referred to as a libertarian. This stemmed from comments from the right-wing media that Johnson’s attitude to Covid was at the very least cavalier. Looking back at the early television interviews and later ‘parties’ the media are perhaps for once not wrong. He clearly had issues with the scientific advice but is that anarchistic?

Of all the world leaders Johnson was by far the most vociferous against Putin’s attack on Ukraine. In recent times Russia, can possibly claim fame to be the one state which has proliferated the most anarchy throughout the free world. One wonders what the leaders of the Russian Bear now think, as Johnson whips up feeling round the world which amounts to pure, anti the Russian State. Do they now feel the tide has turned and they are the ones suffering at the hand of world financial and political anarchy?

In his piece ‘Anarchy is a likelier future for the west than tyranny’ (Financial Times, June 2022) Janah Ganesh, makes the statement “Unwritten ethical conventions have turned into dust under a laughing cavalier of a prime minister. That is a measure of his potential as a demagogue, yes, but also of how little structure there now is in public life. As his 80-seat parliamentary majority proves impotent against unions and Nimbys, it is the flight of power from the centre that stands out, not its ruthless concentration there.” We assume this refers to Boris Johnson. Of course, history shows that the centre did have the prime minister with the largest parliamentary majority removed. Would Johnson call them the deep state perhaps? We would concur with Ganesh’s headline but perhaps not the disaster for society that he appears to emulate to in the article. In any case the question is still, is or was Johnson an anarchist? Well, that is a matter of opinion. What is interesting for the future, is will the former prime minister reappear and again challenge the British indifferent elite with his Boris made, populous, modern, cavalier form of political anarchism?