The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, claims he’s making a difference in the Middle East but barely has a walk-on part
, I could have sworn I heard Rishi Sunak say – with great modesty – he had been vitally important in international efforts to limit the violence in the Middle East. Only his personal interventions with Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohammed bin Salman and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi had prevented an even worse humanitarian catastrophe. Some were even proclaiming him to be a global peacemaker. A saviour among men.making pretty much the same claims for himself during Foreign Office questions.
The reality of this was soon evident once Cleverly got beyond the self-promoting soundbites and tried to answer penetrating questions from MPs on both sides of the house. Because he didn’t really have very much to add other than he cared very deeply and was doing his best. Which was nice to know but didn’t get us very far. Because his sphere of influence was extremely limited.
The foreign secretary looked distinctly awkward. He didn’t like the way this session was going. It was all well above his pay grade. Um, he had spoken to the Israelis and they had assured him they were operating within international law. And who was he to check their claims? That would be a bit rude given everything they were going through. So he was sure everything was just fine.I see, said countless other MPs.
We can, though, still be beastly to foreigners, as Robert Jenrick was keen to point out in his later statement on immigration. Plus ça change. We hadn’t actually done very much to get rid of refugees yet, mind. Despite the bad weather. Or maybe because. Foreigners in small boats love the thought of drowning. But don’t worry. All that was about to change. He was about to close a few hotels and force people into five-in-a-room quarters in a formerly legionella-infested barge.
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