SELF-DISCOVERY is a common feature of most of the great eastern philosophies and religions. However, in the black arts of politics, knowing your enemy is as important as knowing yourself.
The maxim “know thine enemy” isn’t from our Holy Quran or indeed from the Bible, it is much older. It comes from the ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu, author of The Art Of War. The full quote is: “Know thy enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.”
So let us spend some time examining the nature of Scotland’s public enemy number one – Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson – or Billy Bunter as the Scottish cops now operationally term him.
After his dalliance with journalism, where he was found out as an étranger to the actualité, Johnson spent the greater part of his political career regarded as little more than a Tory conference turn.
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This was the nearly man who would swan about the fringe launching veiled critiques of the leadership; an arch opportunist, single-minded in his one over-arching aim of self promotion. He was top of the blue-rinse hit parade but not (to use an old Tory phrase) someone with whom you would choose to go into the jungle.
And then fate moved its mighty hand. After much swithering, dithering, writing and then unwriting of articles Johnson realised that his self-interest could be fashioned to collide with ruling Britannia and he plumped for leading the Leave campaign.
One referendum and two prime ministers later, Boris was installed in No 10 and his position consolidated with a massive majority in the December 2019 election. So far so bad.
It should be admitted that as a politician Boris has bagged electoral success aplenty. He has been elected twice as Mayor of London, which is no Tory city. However, as a human being he has been found wanting. Behind the breezy devil-may-care demeanour there is “something of the night” about Boris – or a “nasty piece of work” as Eddie Mair once memorably described him.
However, in the Art of War (or politics) it matters not whether your enemy is nice or nasty. All that matters is whether they are effective. And here should lie Scotland’s big chance.
The Johnson government is not just ineffective – it is “dysfunctional”. We know this for certain because it is one of the milder things that Johnson’s erstwhile svengali, Dominic Cummings, has revealed to us. Of course “The Dom” is hardly flavour of the month with most people but equally few would doubt that his words carry the ring of truth.
And the pressure is now beginning to tell as the Government’s problems start to mount. According to Conservative Home, the Prime Minister’s popularity among the Tory faithful has fallen a Titanic 30 points in a single month.
In this “mensis horribilis” Johnson has lost one cabinet secretary and two by-elections. His new Health Secretary promptly caught Covid and he then performed a screeching U-turn on self-isolation. The Johnson boat has been kept afloat on the success of the NHS vaccination programme. Now it has sprung a leak and the Prime Minister is at odds with his own Chancellor on the road to recovery. Top Tories are now scheming and plotting not just for the post-Covid era but for the post-Johnson era.
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The Prime Minister, who arrives in Scotland this week, will not be chastened – he doesn’t do humility. However, he is in substantial difficulty. And to paraphrase an old Irish saying, England’s difficulty should be Scotland’s opportunity.
The last time Scotland faced down Westminster on the constitution Cameron and Osborne were the team at the Westminster helm. They were as posh as they were arrogant but they were effective. Compared to that dominant duo, Johnson and Michael Gove look like Pinky and Perky. A puff of political wind would likely knock over this pair.
So why aren’t matters being brought to a head on independence when we know our opponents are at their weakest?
And that, according to the Art of War, is where “knowing yourself” comes in.
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