Is this the “Boris moment” I’d been expecting to materialise?

I think you will spend 104 seconds reading this post

I woke up this morning and read about Boris Johnson comparing the aims of the EU to those of Adolf Hitler. From someone who sincerely hopes that the referendum will see the UK remaining in the EU, I have spent the last few weeks following the opinion polls and soaking up the coverage in the media, as the campaigning for remaining in/leaving the EU have begun in earnest.

As cautious as I am about the prospects, given that there are clearly a lot of voters either undecided, apathetic or who declared their intent to vote to leave the EU, I have felt from the outside that possibly Boris could be his once worst enemy, prone as he is to his “Boris moments” where he shows himself up to be a buffoon, eroding the credibility that he somehow garners on other occasions.

I had always wondered if it would only be a matter of time before Boris Johnson would say something so controversial in its nature that it would discredit him as a credible voice for the Brexit campaign. His remarks to the Sunday Telegraph liken the EU’s aims to the attempts of Napoleon and Hitler – and said that they ended tragically, and he states that a Brexit provides Great Britain with a new opportunity to play a heroic role. However, possibly this could be the “Boris moment” where he discredits himself, unless of course the news of the politically-charged Ukrainian Eurovision Song Contest victory banishes his statement away from the front pages. The users on the forum of Der Standard, who are always vociferous, certainly feel it should discredit him. My fears that he somehow buries his “Boris moment” seem to be unfounded given the latest developments from the bookmakers.

Odds widening

Oddschecker – which I have been looking at not for betting reasons but because a colleague mentioned that the odds and their changing on a near daily basis provide a very good barometer of the current sentiment – seems to suggest lengthening odds on a Brexit (and therefore a shortening of odds on remaining in).

Author: mdgb

45 years old, came to Austria in 97/98 for nine months and then moved permanently in July 2000. At the time of starting this blog, I have been in Austria for more than half my lifetime.