Can Boris Johnson survive as Britain’s prime minister? If I could reliably predict the future I’d be making a living on horse racing, but I will try to answer that question in a moment. Clearly 2021 is ending disastrously for Mr Johnson. Until now, he has been Britain’s Teflon prime minister. Nothing sticks – not his policy failures, nor what British people have seen of his deceptions and the numerous allegations of dodgy dealings about money, cronyism and patronage. But Teflon Boris has worn thin. So has his comic persona in such serious times, with another wave of coronavirus upon us. One successful prediction that I did make about Mr Johnson was published in The National in October 2020. I wrote that 2019 had been Johnson’s year of great successes in becoming prime minister, leading his party to an 80-seat majority, but by 2021 he would hit the hard brick wall of reality. There would be a series of failures and broken promises. And so it has proved.
More than 146,000 British people have now died with the coronavirus. The Johnson government was slow to react and remains conflicted on what to do. There is a backlash within his own Conservative party against his announcement of new Covid-19 restrictions, despite fears that the National Health Service is near to being overwhelmed.
Then there is Brexit, which despite his boasts, is not “done”. Far from it. Mr Johnson is trying to unpick the deal he negotiated, in a way that has irritated Ireland and much of the EU, and ultimately has ensured that his much-promoted idea of a US-UK trade deal is unlikely to happen with the Biden administration.
He is also at loggerheads with France over asylum seekers. Then there is the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. The incompetence of the Johnson government has cost the lives of Afghans who tried to help the British against the Taliban. The British economy is under-performing, thanks to Brexit. Taxes are going up. So is inflation. GDP is predicted to underperform by 4 per cent. Promises about building 40 new hospitals and a new high-speed trainline connecting northern English cities have proved to be questionable salesmanship. And almost daily the Johnson administration is mired in allegations of sleaze and lying.
What was not predictable, however, was that the one scandal which would cut through to British voters would involve a Christmas quiz hosted by Johnson at Downing Street. At the informal party, the staff drank alcohol while the rest of the country was under severe coronavirus restrictions, and ordinary citizens who held parties were fined for committing a criminal offence. The recording of Johnson’s staff laughing and joking as they rehearsed how to handle this potential scandal nicknamed “Partygate,” became a worldwide viral sensation. It came as British families mourned their coronavirus dead or restricted their behaviour to obey Mr Johnson’s own government rules.
As a classics scholar, Mr Johnson will know the observation of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “character is destiny”. That is both Johnson’s strength and his likely downfall. He has been able to change his policies, break his promises, promote fantastic schemes for bridges, airports and new hospitals that never get built, and still be popular with voters who never much believed him anyway.
They immediately saw his character as that of a shambolic personality who could break the mould of politics-as-usual, and that was attractive to some. But the other part of Mr Johnson’s character is of someone who sees rules as only for the little people, not for himself, combined with the British Labour party leader Kier Starmer’s characterisation of Mr Johnson as a “trivial” man, incapable of being truly serious in serious times.
Mr Johnson, therefore, looks to be in the twilight of his political career. A special by-election takes place on Thursday in North Shropshire, a rock solid Conservative seat, one of the safest in England. If the Conservatives were to lose there, then Mr Johnson’s key attraction to his party – being a vote winner – will have gone, and so, soon, could he. But assuming his party does retain this North Shropshire seat, Boris Johnson will likely stagger on into 2022, distrusted, and plagued by scandals which will multiply. His Downing Street staff are unlikely to be loyal to a leader who seems to regard those around him as a human shield, to be sacked to save his own career.
If this prediction is correct, then 2022 will begin with Mr Johnson in office but not really in power, wounded and weakened. That may suit Mr Johnson’s opponents in the Labour party, who have been revitalised in recent weeks and who scent blood. A new Conservative leader, a new prime minister, someone more competent and hardworking than Boris Johnson, could quite possibly revive the Conservative party’s fortunes. If Mr Johnson cares about his country or his party then he will go. If he cares only about himself, he will stay. His character suggests he will stay, twisting in the wind.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
More on animal trafficking
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Racecard
%3Cp%3E5pm%3A%20Al%20Bateen%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(Turf)%202%2C200m%3Cbr%3E5.30pm%3A%20Al%20Khaleej%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%3Cbr%3E6pm%3A%20Wathba%20Stallions%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh70%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%3Cbr%3E6.30pm%3A%20Al%20Nahyan%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3Cbr%3E7pm%3A%20Al%20Karamah%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3Cbr%3E7.30pm%3A%20Al%20Salam%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
SRI LANKA SQUAD
Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
ABU DHABI T10: DAY TWO
Bangla Tigers v Deccan Gladiators (3.30pm)
Delhi Bulls v Karnataka Tuskers (5.45pm)
Northern Warriors v Qalandars (8.00pm)
