This is a remarkable turnaround. There was a bit in Johnson’s speech where he condemned anti-wind attitudes of the past: “I remember how some people used to sneer at wind power, twenty years ago, and say that it wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding”. He neglected to mention that he was quoting himself there, and far more recently than 20 years ago. In 2013 he told a radio show that “Labour put in a load of wind farms that failed to pull the skin off a rice pudding” and that the future was in shale gas.
Yesterday Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his speech to the Conservative Party Conference, a somewhat muted affair given the lack of audience. The speech, which you can read in full here, is more characteristically Johnson than most of his recent official pronouncements. It’s funny, optimistic and jingoistic, if that’s the sort of thing you look for in a politician – and apparently British voters do or Boris Johnson wouldn’t have a career.
It has some awkward moments too. “We believe in our fantastic armed services as one of the greatest exports this country has” is going to ring rather hollow in Yemen, for example. And there’s something really rather sinister about the demonising of “lefty human rights lawyers and other do-gooders”.
Still, the reason I wanted to mention the speech is this bit:
“I can today announce that the UK government has decided to become the world leader in…
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The Most Revolutionary Act 