PETER HITCHENS: Don't be duped by cheery Boris Johnson... it's your duty to be glum

Mr. Johnson wrote a book called 'Rome' about ten, fifteen years ago. It was an interesting and informative read. However, if I remember correctly, in the conclusion he was very much on the Europhile wing of his party even arguing that Turkey ought to be allowed to join. I also seem to remember that before joining the Leave campaign, many people weren't sure which side of the argument he would be persuaded to join.

For some reason the the promise to engage 20,000 more police staff, presumably all of whom will be selected under the rigid aegis of the current obsessive, politically-correct diversity targets does not fill me with reassurance regarding the crime figures. In fact, scanning the “Soon we’ll all be extremists” observations two paragraphs down, I think we can safely put 2 + 2 together and get an idea on what those 20,000 extra staff, should they ever materialise, will be actually engaged in.

On the subject of Hong Kong PH asks the question: 'Why don't we stand up to China?'

Does he want us to stand up to China? From the following statement, 'We must insist they cease this sort of thing, or we cease to be a serious country', it would appear that he does.. The problem here with that is this. From previous statements he has made about this country, I thought he thought we had ceased to be a serious country some time ago, so are we or are we not a serious country and if we are but we weren't before then what has changed and when did that change happen?

I see that there are many people here who still believe that the UK is somehow more democratic than the EU, even after the current PM was elected by 0.15% of the population, after one side in the Brexit referendum campaign was convicted of breaking electoral law without any consequences, and with an electoral system (first past the post) that makes it possible for smaller parties representing a significant portion of the electorate to be virtually unrepresented in the House of Commons. I would suggest a little less blind nationalism and a little more critical thinking!

Mr Hitchens: “We must insist that they [China] cease this sort of thing, or we cease to be a serious country.”

When the Chinese diplomat who receives this insistence stops laughing, does Mr Hitchens have any advice for the Foreign Office on what they might try next?
***PH remarks. China is highly sensitive to foreign criticism, as I have personal reason to know - and unused to anyone standing up to it, and is very vulnerable in this case since it is in breach of undertakings given in a solemn international treaty. Britain could easily( as it did over the Skripal incident in the case of Russia) mobilise considerable diplomatic . force. Indeed, this is quite possible the last opportunity to do so. There are clearly divisions in Peking over Hong Kong policy and indeed over the whole aggressive policy of the hubristic President Xi.Nothing is gained by doing nothing. ***

The Tories are now just social liberals lead by a decadent. I was going to put 'mostly' in there as a caveat but really the social conservatives are so rare as for it not to matter.

This is what happens when a populace are, rather than policed away from their base instincts, instructed to indulge them (and lead by example).

So it does not matter how many or few police there are; our society is now so far gone as to be unrecoverable this side of an enormous natural disaster that will shock people back to reality.

Seriously, plan your lifeboat because this is going to get very bumpy.

Why do so many people not understand the Al/Boris thing.
It's not that he uses his middle name instead of his first name, it is that he uses his middle name as a stage name. All his friends and family call him Al.
Gordon Brown was called Gordon at home and at work.
**PH: Exactly. They do this because, like the Trumpoids they resemble, the Boar-iss fan club cannot stand any criticism, however slight, of their fleshly idol***