Boris "Stuart" Johnson on Liberty

Abstract

In a recent speech, the British Foreign Secretary and leading campaigner for Brexit Boris Johnson, made extensive reference to the work of John Stuart Mill. Johnson's evocation of Mill is problematic on several levels, as is his apparently tenuous grasp of the workings of European and supra-national institutions. On the face of it, Johnson's stated desire for "self-government of the people, by the people, for the people"[1] appears eminently reasonable. Upon closer inspection, however, the contradictions inherent in Johnson's notion of liberalism readily become apparent.