Matthew Parris

"[On Boris Johnson] Look, this is a joke but this is not a joke. Somebody has to call a halt to the gathering pretence that if only you're sufficiently comical in politics you can laugh everything off. Somebody has to remind us that it's not enough for those who seek to govern us simply to be: they have to do. Incompetence is not funny. Policy vacuum is not funny. Administrative sloth is not funny. Breaking promises is not funny. A careless disregard for the truth is not funny. Advising old mates planning to beat somebody up is not funny. Abortions and gagging orders are not funny. Creeping ambition in a jester's cap is not funny. Vacuity posing as merriment, cynicism posing as savviness, a wink and smile covering for betrayal ... these things are not funny."

"If assisted dying becomes common and widely accepted, hundreds of thousands — perhaps millions — will consider choosing this road when the time comes; and in some cases, even ask themselves whether it would be selfish not to. In short, a taboo will be lifted — and taboo is potent. What today is criminal could tomorrow become (as its proponents tend to insist) a sad but permitted option in a relatively small number of special and agonising circumstances; but within a decade or more be seen as a normal road for many to take, and considered socially responsible — and even, finally, urged upon people."

"[[Jeremy Corbyn|[Jeremy] Corbyn]]'s genius was to maximise electoral yield from a substantial but minority section of the population. His downfall was that he couldn't do it – it cannot be done – without by the same token repelling millions among the rest."

"When the Tories crash next month it will not be because they failed to win over Reform supporters, but – at least in part – because they tried to."