BRAVURA BORIS !!

Anyone who saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson's bravura performance in the House of Commons today can be in no doubt that things have changed. Where May was stolid, Johnson was energetic; where May was controlled, Johnson was vibrant; where May was hopeful, Johnson was determined. Above all. where May was boring, Johnson was anything but.

Voters may love Johnson or they may loathe him; what cannot be denied is that he is a different beast to most, if not all, of those that have gone before. He exudes a confidence and enthusiasm which has probably never been seen before in any British Prime Minister; only the wartime Winston Churchill ever quite threatened to galvanise the nation as does Boris Johnson.

The problem is a single question. Is this all bluster and bravado, or can he actually deliver ? His performance in the House today suggests that his knowledge of current issues is somewhat greater than has generally been touted. His answers showed a degree of diplomacy that we have not, perhaps, come to expect from him. For some 2½ hours, Johnson responded to questions from all sides, 129 questions according to Mr Speaker Bercow whose own interventions followed the usual pattern of excessive pomposity and verbosity.

Johnson actually seemed to be enjoying it all. He never wavered, never flagged; he set out his stall and made it clear where he was headed and in what he believed. Most importantly, he was absolutely unequivocal in stating that the UK will leave the European Union by 31st October at the latest, come what may.

How that last ambition will be achieved is yet to be seen. He is opposed by some in his own party, most of the Labour opposition, now that Corbyn has been bludgeoned into submission, the Liberal Democrats who despise both Brexit and Johnson, and the Scottish Nationalists who despise being subservient to the United Kingdom while welcoming the notion of servitude to the EU. EU representatives have already made it clear that they will not enter into any meaningful form of renegotiation over the withdrawal agreement, which is binding, but will discuss the political declaration which, surprise, surprise, is not. In other words, the EU plans to give not an inch.

We are heading for a showdown, maybe more than one. Johnson versus the EU, Johnson versus Parliament, even Johnson versus his own MPs. How it will all end no one knows, but we can be sure that the ride will be pretty hairy and 31st October is the deadline.