Lord Frost might not be well-known. However, the resignation by the Brexit Minister from Cabinet is a more severe blow for PM than any other recent mishaps.
Stories of Covid-busting parties at No. 10 and the self-inflicted mischief over Owen Paterson, Tory MP, has called into question Boris Johnson’s character and judgement. These are, of course, very important matters.
Perhaps more significant is Lord Frost’s assertion in his resignation letter that Johnson is not a Tory or the leader of any government that could be called Conservative.
Boris Johnson and members of the Metropolitan Police are seen in the break room. This photo was taken earlier this week, on December 17.
He has expressed reservations that go beyond the simple language in a formal letter. Concerned about this administration’s proclivities, which are high-tax and high-spending, he is worried.
Uncosted, net zero environmental policies could lead to the nation’s impoverishment. He was unable to get a vaccine passport.
Less than a month ago, Lord Frost argued in a speech that if we follow the ‘European social model’ of endless employment regulations, high taxes and astronomical welfare spending we will, like the rest of the EU, enjoy only modest economic growth — and squander the opportunities of Brexit.
Swingeing stuff. Many of his ex-Council colleagues also share these doubts. However, only one of his former Cabinet colleagues has the nerve to speak out about the millions of dumbfounded Tory voters and to then resign with dignity.
Boris Johnson is going to listen to the departed critique of his trusted lieutenant. Will he continue his bull-in a china-shop style and embrace policies that would be appropriate in a Labour government?
This is modern politics’ great irony. Boris is portrayed by the centre-left as an insane, Right-wing populist.
It takes only a few minutes to read the Guardian’s columns, in which irate columnists rail against him every day, and listen to the BBC denunciations.
Picture of Lord Frost arriving at 10 Downing Street, last month Lord Frost wrote a resignation letter expressing his dissatisfaction with uncosted environmental policies of ‘net zero,’ which could lead to the nation’s impoverishment.
He may be populist but he isn’t Right wing economically or any other way that I know of.
His detractors may be so enraged at Mr Johnson’s role as Brexit-deliverer that they are unable to see who he is.
Is it possible for a Prime Minister to raise taxes and be described as Right-wing when they are?
Next April will see increases in National Insurance. This tax burden is the highest it has been since Clement Attlee’s Labour administration of 1950.
Attlee nationalized vast swathes industries and applied aggressively penal taxation rates. After the destruction of World War II, his policies impeded economic recovery. In 1951, voters sent him packing.
It is a great achievement for the Tory Prime Minister, to compete with him on tax matters.
Granted, this Government has a Covid bill (so far) of more than £400 billion to settle, but Attlee inherited an even bigger debt as a consequence of the war.
His way of thinking was to reduce tax in order to encourage economic growth. High levels of taxation were his preference, due to the fact that the NHS had recently been created and proved more agressive than any one could have imagined.
Boris, too. Rishi Sunak might have written the recent Budget statement for Boris.
The Chancellor made the extraordinary boast that departmental spending will soar by £150 billion, or 3.8 per cent every year, over this Parliament, the fastest increase in public expenditure in the 21st century.
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak, pictured, made the extraordinary boast that departmental spending will soar by £150 billion, or 3.8 per cent every year over this Parliament
This is faster than Gordon Brown’s tenure as Chancellor. It’s not about Mr Brown’s first days at No. 11 when he complied with Tory spending plans. But the time during which he found his feet and spent money on an extravagant scale.
There is another way — to cut taxes and control spending. The Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who will take over Lord Frost’s duties, and Jacob Rees Mogg (the so-called Minister of the 18th century), have squeaked their doubts from the parapet over the last few months. Lord Frost had to be the one to voice his opinion on what other people think.
He is the only Cabinet member to question how Boris Johnson can afford his egregious ‘net zero” environmental plans. It’s a cost that no one has ever been able to calculate.
This means that new petrol or diesel vehicles will be banned by 2030 and new gas boilers installed in homes within three years.
While China continues to build hundreds of coal power stations, Britain — responsible for a mere 1 per cent of global emissions — is in danger of hobbling its economy as we don hair shirts years before people in other countries. Is this Tory?
Lord Frost is echoing concerns about ‘coercive Covid’ measures that have been enacted by the government or are being considered by the government in relation to Plan B.
Thanks to God Boris has resisted the pressure of the lockdown lobby made up unelected scientists and supported in Cabinet yesterday by Michael Gove, Health Secretary Sajid javid and who refused to rule out a lockdown prior Christmas.
While I do not want to divert from Lord Frost’s resignation, we should really be able to forgive the outrageous claims made by the Government and agencies regarding the spread Omicron.
The UK Health and Security Agency reported that Omicron infections were increasing at a rate of 200,000 per day as of Monday.
According to Mr Johnson, Mr Javid suggests that cases increase by a factor of two every day.
These numbers would mean that Omicron has more than 2,000,000 new cases. That is some idiocy.
Yesterday’s figure for new Covid infection by the Government, although it admittedly underestimated the actual number, was actually 82,886, which is less than the two previous days.
It’s time to return to Lord Frost. In his views on taxes and spending as well his scepticism over uncosted “net zero” policies and his opposition to autoritarian Covid measures, Frost epitomizes good judgment and balance in a Tory.
You might also add that he showed a Tory concern about the rights of British citizens living in Northern Ireland, which is still within the EU’s jurisdiction, during negotiations over the “Northern Ireland Protocol”.
Pictured earlier in the year, Lord Frost was pictured in October. He argued that only moderate economic growth can be achieved if the European social model is followed, less than one month ago.
Yes, Lord Frost and Boris Johnson accepted the agreement that was necessary to pay for Brexit. Lord Frost tried to reduce it.
Rumours are circulating that the Prime Minister might be open to compromise where the Brexit Minister wasn’t.
It is amazing that Lord Frost, a career diplomat at the Foreign Office was also a Eurosceptic. A true Conservative emerged from these unlikely circumstances.
Boris? Boris?
He may have calculated that Conservatives would need to vote for him in the next election. They can also decline to vote or loan their votes elsewhere.
Johnson still has time to discover a direction of travel, Lord Frost said, and that would be Tory.
However, the Cabinet and party have become more vocal than ever. To get their party back, they are asking whether Boris will need to be removed.