One of the best-known members of the government is now quitting. This is not a showy resignation where an ambitious Minister knocks Downing Street’s door on his way out, hoping that his actions will lead to the top job.
However, the resignation was made politely and discretely. This is to make the Government more effective than it is to ruin it. The Prime Minister has time to prepare for it before it goes public.
Lord Frost, Brexit Minister is different to a career politician. A distinguished diplomat, he has a track record of skillful negotiation and volunteered his skills to Boris Johnson to help get Brexit accomplished.
He’s a solid, serious figure and a true patriot who strongly believes in Britain. His departure will bring about a severe blow.
MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Lord Frost, the Brexit Minister, is the opposite of a career politician. A distinguished diplomat, he has a track record of skillful negotiation and volunteered his skills to Boris Johnson to help get Brexit accomplished.
The Union Flag badges were worn by our team of negotiators, which he said transformed Brexit talks and symbolised a patriotic, new approach.
He was so different from previous British contacts with the EU, which were prone to defeatist and weak attitudes. Brussels realized that it was dealing with serious adversaries. With a determined determination to protect ourselves.
He has shown equal purpose and principle in tackling the EU’s subsequent desire to punish us for leaving. Remainers must surely have been embarrassed to find that it was their beloved ‘Europe’ that had adopted a silly, spiteful and short-sighted position on Brexit, while Britain was the grown-up in the negotiating chamber. This behavior was met with the approval and authority of Lord Frost.
But his departure is less to do with the continuing problems of sorting out the details of our new relationship with the Continent and more to do with the PM’s conduct of the Covid crisis.
With his usual sharp perception, Lord Frost has decided that he has had enough of the Government’s increasingly European-style approach to the pandemic.
MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Lord Frost’s departure is less to do with the continuing problems of sorting out the details of our new relationship with the Continent and more to do with the PM’s conduct of the Covid crisis
Lord Frost is a Cabinet member who has been vocal in his support for the country’s openness and the avoiding any legislative control to address the problem. He is believed to have objected in principle to the idea of ‘vaccine passports’. He may also have felt disillusioned with the most recent resort to regulations.
This is all of a piece with his more general disenchantment with the whole policy direction of the Government in recent months – especially on tax rises and the green-driven preoccupation with the target of ‘net zero’ CO2 emissions.
He shares this opinion with his public statements. However, he disagrees with the European-style high tax high spend economic model that the Chancellor recently adopted. Lord Frost is convinced that such a policy will not deliver the benefits associated with Brexit, regardless of the reasons. These are objections that a serious man would have.
Boris Johnson is a man who knows the importance of figures like Lord Frost and needs to pay attention. Covid has led the Government to depart from its original principles. It is very easy to interpret bad results from by-elections, but it would not be wise for Johnson to ignore the North Shropshire loss.
They are willing to vote elsewhere because he failed to deliver the results his supporters wanted. For the moment, protests of this kind are just a warning, as Lord Frost’s departure is a warning.
However, if the danger signs go ignored over the next year, the Government may face an even more severe defection. The government’s future might be in serious danger.