The Brexit vote caught just about everybody unprepared, and the domino pieces are still falling, creating a crisis that saw a seemingly Teflon-like government collapse. David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister and the search for his replacement looked more like a Shakespearian farce than a political process. Boris Johnson was the heir apparent but the markets and the pound reacted very badly, perhaps to that possibility, so Mrs “Safe-pair-of-hands” Theresa May (Home Secretary, a popular victory over the Police under her belt) appeared in the landscape. How much she was the darling of the City became apparent later, after laughable attempts to present it all as a contest saw a few candidates fall by the wayside: one seemed to get rid of Boris Johnson but at the same time an email from his journalist wife got “accidentally leaked” suggesting she was manipulating him, then a female unknown became a “serious” contender only to quickly abandon the contest after some ill-thought comments about motherhood. So Mrs May became de facto Prime Minister, no need to have an election at any level, and anyway, “people are tired of voting”(?!). Then the last piece of the puzzle came to light: Mr Philip May, her hubby, is a banker from the City.

Immediately she announced some populist measures taken straight from the Labour Party manifesto to apparently curb the savage concentration of wealth – that has been the hallmark of these times of austerity – and the power of corporation bosses and bankers. She could not have included them in the proposals without agreement (or even suggestion) from the powerful financial barons from the City and the CBI (Confederation of the British Industry). They would have been very much resisted. So, something for everyone, apparently.

Then she appointed her Cabinet and the populist mirage dissolved like a dream in the cacophony of an old alarm clock. This is a sharp turn to the Right and the contradictions were there to be seen.

The first surprise was oxymoron-in-chief Boris Johnson, appointed Foreign Secretary, Yes, the man in charge of the Diplomatic Service, perhaps the only person in the UK to have been involved in more diplomatic gaffes than Prince Philip.  NBC News compiled a list of six times Johnson behaved in a “deeply offensive” manner, including:

  • writing in a 2008 column for the Daily Telegraph that Hillary Clinton had “dyed blonde hair and pouty lips, and a steely blue stare, like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital,” a comment that was actually part of an endorsement for her presidential bid;
  • describing President Barack Obama as “part-Kenyan” with an “ancestral dislike of the British empire;”
  • saying of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “Despite looking a bit like Dobby the House Elf, he is a ruthless and manipulative tyrant;” and
  • writing in 2002 that then-Prime Minister Tony Blair’s visits to foreign nations would include “crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies” and that “tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles.” (He apologized for those comments in 2008.)

His appointment was described by other governments as an example of the weird British sense of humour. Not only he repeatedly lied to the people during the Leave campaign, but he has a history: the Times sacked him for making up quotes and he also made up stories about the EU for the Telegraph. He has been compared to Donald Trump and the risk of his position is that if Trump becomes US President the world will be a very dangerous place indeed. openDemocracy summarises the situation with a little history:

“The five great disasters of British foreign policy in the last 70 years were all in the Middle East – Palestine (1948), Iran (1953), Egypt (1956), Aden (1967) and Iraq (2003). Two were fateful withdrawals (Palestine and Aden) from situations which Britain was unable to manage, and as such were painful imperial humiliations. Three were fateful interventions – the overthrow (by covert means) of a popular prime minister of Iran, Mohammed Mossadeq; the attempted overthrow (through military means) of Nasser; and the overthrow (through invasion and occupation) of Saddam Hussein – which, whatever their short-term purposes, led to a train of unwanted consequences.”

Then Philip Hammond was appointed as Chancellor, charged with undoing the economic mess created by his predecessor’s austerity, but without derailing the neoliberal agenda. He has been in charge of several Cabinet posts before, most notably Defence and the Foreign Office, so he is the continuity guy, only more “Eurosceptic”.

Everybody expected, hoped, prayed that Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary who has been leading the Privatisation of the NHS and provoking doctors with vicious contracts into taking industrial action would go. This was the perfect opportunity, saving face and all that. But, Alas, no! He stays.

Arch-right-wingers David Davis (he has a good track record on Human Rights, though) and Liam Fox (who previously had to resign from Defence over a controversial relationship with an “adviser”) are back in government as secretary for Brexit and international trade respectively.

The British Exit from the EU vote happened in the context of fears over immigration, and the horror of the attack in Nice on those celebrating Bastille Day will only reinforce the siege mentality. The new Government does not look at all reassuring in that respect.