Boris Johnson's denouncing of supporters of boycotting Israeli goods was undiplomatic and insulting

The content of what the Mayor actually said was correct - but he was the wrong person to say it

Mayor of London Boris Johnson looks out over the Old City of Jerusalem during his the last day of his visit on 11 November (PA)

It is difficult to think of anything that happened in the news in the past week before the terror attacks in Paris on 14 November. But on 11 November, you may remember, Boris Johnson denounced supporters of a boycott of Israeli goods as “corduroy-wearing, snaggle-toothed, lefty academics”, prompting Palestinian officials to pull out of several meetings he had scheduled in the West Bank as part of his trip to the Middle East.

Until that moment, the Mayor’s visit had been a success. He had been drumming up trade with the Israelis, taking part in jovial photo opportunities, the usual Boris Johnson charm offensive … until he became just plain offensive to Palestinians.

What he actually said, that a boycott would be backward and does nothing to help peace in the region, was right. The boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign is counter-productive. Anyone who supports a boycott is not interested in peace in the Middle East, only a weakening of a democratic country – which is a disturbing move. The Palestinians, for their part, were rash to uninvite Johnson, given he was on a trade mission. But I can see why they did so.

The Mayor said the right thing, but he was the wrong person to say it – that is, if he wants to be prime minister. After the furore, he told the Evening Standard on 13 November that he was sticking to his guns, because “unless you say things powerfully and clearly, the risk is nobody will understand what you’re saying”.

Yet for all of Johnson’s mastery of the English language, his choice of words was undiplomatic, insulting and crass. They were not the comments of a future premier. It is impossible to imagine David Cameron, or George Osborne, for that matter, going to the Middle East and causing a diplomatic incident in such spectacular fashion. Because it wouldn’t happen.

One criticism of Johnson is that he does not have the gravitas when the occasion demands it. Of course, he can capture the sombre mood, as he did on late on 13 November in the wake of the terror in Paris. It is also true that few Tory politicians can deliver the speech that the London Mayor gave to the Conservative conference in Manchester last month, in which he denounced tax credit cuts and recast the party as defenders of the poor, a bold claim to make in the circumstances. I admired him for this.

But his Middle East misadventure suggests he is still not ready to be prime minister. You cannot carry the weight of head of government when your default mode is to turn a serious political statement into a joke. Leadership – of a political party and a country – requires many skills, and one of those is diplomacy.

Johnson once said that he was interested in becoming leader of the Conservative Party if the ball came loose from the scrum. To continue with this analogy, if political parties are like sports teams, then leaders are like captains, commanding authority, being inspirational and dignified. Boris Johnson is less a captain, more a team mascot: he might be able to get the fans going, but in the end he is just a funny guy in a furry bear costume.

Cameron’s Modi operandi

There were extraordinary scenes on 13 November as 60,000 people with free tickets watched the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, speak at Wembley – after a glowing warm-up tribute act by David Cameron. As a celebration of the strong links between Britain and India, the climax of Modi’s three-day visit, it was heartening.

But it was also bizarre to see the British PM go so over the top in his glorifying treatment of a political leader with a dubious human rights record and association with sectarian violence – someone who was banned from the UK for a decade. Cameron’s love of India predates Modi’s election – he has visited the country more times than he has anywhere else outside the EU and US since 2010.

But just like the leaders of Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and China before him, Modi is getting the five-star Cameron treatment. Where Johnson’s diplomatic skills are lacking, it seems Cameron’s are in overdrive. All he’s interested in is trade, and it is an uncomfortable sight.

Thrift is not a failing

Sports minister Tracey Crouch’s advice to families struggling to make ends meet that they could “go without” certain luxuries such as paid subscriptions to Sky TV was common sense, and yet was blown out of proportion by Labour who called her “out of touch”.

In fact, in her interview with The Spectator, she spoke with compassion about sitting down with people and hearing their “heartbreaking cases”. This is the same advice about cutting your cloth that parents have handed down to their children for generations. There are many MPs, of all political parties, who are out of touch, but Crouch is not one of them.

She also spoke honestly about telling the Prime Minister she was not sure she wanted to become a minister because she had had a miscarriage during the election and wanted to try again for a family. Happily, Cameron gave her the job anyway and, happier still, Crouch is expecting a baby in February. She will become the first Conservative minister to take maternity leave. We should be celebrating this landmark, not vilifying her for remarks taken out of context.

At last, English makes sense

I am 42 this month, but I am still brought up short by the English language, even though my parents were English teachers and I make a living from trying to string sentences together. My five-year-old’s Year One homework last week left me grappling for Google, as she was asked to write sentences using “fronted adverbials”. At first, I thought this meant some kind of ornate porch. After a while, I realised it was part of the more rigorous curriculum. In the end, I felt very grateful for Google.

Twitter: @janemerrick23