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Britain gets its tailor-made Donald Trump

Published : Monday, 29 July, 2019 at 12:00 AM  Count : 596
Shahriar Feroze
Shahriar Feroze

Shahriar Feroze

Beset with domestic and international challenges and an intensified continental identity--the United Kingdom yet gets another disputed leader--possibly the most controversial among the lot. Personally I may have a lot against Donald Trump, but eventually its Boris Johnson's journalist identity which has somewhat compelled me-not to pick up the pen but to keep pressing the keys. In the 21stcentury's it is the key board which is mightier than the bullet. However, BJ, following both the abbreviations of his name and the oral...strikingly resembles Donald Trump but in a different continent and a different country.

Both leaders are ultra--populists, avant-garde politicians, unpredictable and humorous in their speeches, and most importantly displays an equal appeal stretches beyond traditional republican and conservative voters. Both are fond of being the talk of the town. Both are acknowledged womanisers. And both are fair-haired, the difference here: Trump is more cautious to give his hair a shape by diligently combing it, whereas the new British PM never bothers. Both are adherents to set up a 'new world order', built on the excessive usage of the superlative degree 'greatness' topped with unending optimism.
Coming back to BJ's journalist career, He began his career at The Times but was reportedly dismissed for falsifying a quotation. He later became The Daily Telegraph's Brussels correspondent, composing snobbish articles exerting a strong influence on a growing Eurosceptic sentiment among the British right-wing. Over two decades of his strong anti-European deportment has finally turned him into a staunch Brexeteer.
Boris Johnson's recorded statement on a British-Iranian dual citizen named Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, way back in November 2017 clearly hints at his limited knowledge on journalism and dangerously inept remark. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation had travelled to Iran with his daughter on an excursion tour to meet family and friends. On early April 2016, she was detained by Iran's Revolutionary Guard members at the Imam Khomeini Airport on suspicion of being a British spy. Responding to Nazanin's arrest in Tehran, BJ, as the then UK foreign secretary declared, "When we look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism, as I understand it, at the very limit."
 
BJ's uncalled for intervention had clearly put her life into danger. Also, Thomson Reuters Foundation, called on him to immediately correct the serious mistake he made in his statement. They also confirmed that Zaghari was not a journalist and has never trained journalists at the Thomson Reuters Foundation. However, four days later, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was returned to court in Iran where then the British foreign secretary's statement was cited as evidence against her.

From falsifying a quotation to stating incompetent remark about a British-Iranian duel citizen-the two incidents are enough to fathom Boris Johnson's journalistic credibility and fact checking skills.

Expectations from him in my end are all negative. But who knows, perhaps time and situation will transform him quick and for the better. Or perhaps he will entirely turn into a loyal American subject to serve in Europe.

From a political viewpoint, Mr Johnson has a well-deserved reputation as a political opportunist. Renegotiating a deal with EU leaders is highly demanding--the EU is adamant on its negotiating terms, and the deadline is less than 3 months away.

Convinced that Mr. Johnson will break free the UK from the EU, but at what cost? Can he truly strike a better, soft, hard or any Brexit deal at all? It is not domestic politics where he can thrive on tricks and sheer opportunism.
On the Iran topic, the danger is that BJ's new administration is likely to seek free trade agreement with the US. And Trump senior may tightly squeeze Trump junior to back him in his potential military adventure targeting Iran. Here BJ's short but failed stint as the UK foreign secretary comes under the spotlight questioning his diplomatic astuteness.

Now let's have a close look on BJ's media portrayal in his country.
The Evening Standard has backed him as - "the prime minister to turn Britain around," while The Telegraph, which employed Johnson as a columnist, says he has"infectious optimism that his supporters hope will overwhelm the questions concerning character." The Times of London, meanwhile, recently described him as a 'philanderer', albeit one with 'remarkable resilience', almost similar to the hate story between Mr. Trump and the media industry.

 Let me end the piece with a touch of humour. Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reported to have sent Bangladeshi mangoes along with flowers to the newly elected UK prime minister as gifts acknowledging his victory.

Where did the mango go?
I don't know, but the mango goes wherever the 'man goes'.
Conservative Party voters and the political establishment of the UK have manifestly produced the British version of Donald Trump, a carefully crafted hand-stitched politician coming out of the skilled hands of a renowned Savile Row tailor-sadly by following US measurements.

The writer is assistant editor, news and editorial, The Daily Observer




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