Boris is moving into his stride

Boris Johnson is, I think, beginning to look comfortable as prime minister. Always a bit shambolic and not knowing where to put his hands - pockets or down by his side - and above all looking a little sheepish because he knows what a lot of people, especially in EU capitals, think of him. Since Boris took over from Theresa May, there has been a large degree of wariness, alarm and bewilderment on their part but still a feeling of confidence that they, the patrician leaders, can see him off eventually, provie hey all stick together. But less so now. Boris has the full backing of Trump and, partly as a result of that strong endorsement by the US president at the G7 summit in Biarritz, the British prime minister is moving into his stride. Not Churchillian, as he would like, but definitely Boris prime minister as opposed to Boris buffoon. He has now told the BBC that he has changed his mind about no-deal Brexit. Just a week or so ago he said it was a million-to-one chance of there being no deal. I thought that was a bit odd, seeing as how every other sentence from his lips was all about just that, the likeihood of a no-deal exit from the EU. But now he thinks it's touch-and-go. I know it's partly a political game to put pressure on the EU to offer an Irish backstop concession. But in offering a more gloomy prospect, he then fights back with a threat to keep the £39 billion the UK is supposed to pay the EU as part of the withdrawal agreement. If there is no deal, then why pay out that huge sum? It's a good argument. He has said it before many times but with the G7 as background, Boris's threat is now an ultimatum. Give us what we want or forget abut that withdrawal payment. The EU won't like that. It would set a dangerous precedent. But will it make the EU back down? I don't think it will as such but it's an important ingredient in the debate that will go on between now and October 31 among the 27 EU leaders. Meanwhile, Boris is putting his shoulders back and trying to show supporters and non-supporters alike that he is the man for the job of taking us out of the EU and surviving. Trump said he was the right man for the job. But I'm not sure that really helps at this point in time, given that a lot of people in the US don't think Trump is the right man for HIS job!!