‘Shameless Johnson’s speech was rich in slogans but short on policies’ – Jason Beattie

Boris Johnson rewrote history on the collapse of Afghanistan rule to the Taliban, the European Super League failure and the Euros – what more could we have expected, writes Jason Beattie

Before delivering his speech, Boris Johnson would have observed the state of the country.

He would have seen households struggling with bills, motorists queuing for petrol and shops running short of goods.

And then he would have decided it is far easier to sell the promise of a better tomorrow than dwell on the miseries of today.

As always with the Prime Minister this was a speech rich on slogans but short on policies.

It was classic Johnson in terms of his jokes, literary references and wayward anecdotes but it was also pure Johnson in its utter shamelessness.

He listed the things which need fixing, such as the broken housing market and the crumbling infrastructure, without any acknowledgement that his party have been in power for more than a decade.

History was rewritten to turn the humiliation of Kabul into a triumph of British military organisation. He took credit for seeing off the European Super League despite originally having supported the failed project.

He sought to bask in England’s success in the Euros while conveniently forgetting his Home Secretary had refused to condemn fans who booed when players took the knee.

The Prime Minister’s unfaithful relationship with the truth has long been factored in.

The criticism should be directed at his incoherent plans for building the better Britain he claims he wants to achieve.

As he was speaking of a brighter future for the country, dark clouds were settling over the five million families who will lose £20 a week in the Universal Credit cut.

Those worrying about how to put food on their table will need more to sustain them than a bombastic pledge to unleash the spirit of Britain.

They will wonder too how they will benefit from the Prime Minister’s levelling up programme or his vow to build back better.