Boris scents Cameron's blood

The decision by Boris Johnson to support the campaign for a British exit from the European Union has nothing to do with the rights and wrongs of the issue, which will be thrashed out over the next few weeks, and everything to do with Johnson’s political ambitions.

The Mayor of London, who also sits on the back-benches of the ruling Conservative Party at Westminster, has long been looked upon as a potential successor to Prime Minister David Cameron. That might have happened had Cameron lost last year’s United Kingdom General Election.

Cameron won and until now has looked unassailable, but he has staked his political fortunes on a deal he has negotiated with Brussels which he says is good enough for Britain to remain an EU member.

Of course it will not satisfy the most rabid anti-Europeans such as UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage — if Brussels had voted to give every man, woman and child in Britain a free flat on the Costa Brava, he would still have wanted out — but Farage and his skinhead acolytes could never have led a successful exit campaign.

Nor could the political figures that have rallied to the so-called Brexit — Minister for Justice Michael Gove, Pensions Minister Iain Duncan Smith,  Leader of the House of Commons Chris Grayling and Employment Minister Priti Patel — all low profile technicians short on charm and charisma.

But Boris Johnson changes all that.

A vote to leave the EU means the end of Cameron’s career. It will have been a stinging rebuff and he will have no choice other than to resign.

That leaves Johnson as the face of the Brexit triumph and a shoo-in as Cameron’s replacement.

Then comes the hard work of disengaging the United Kingdom from the EU: A pound in free-fall, recession, flights of capital and a possible second Scottish independence referendum — Boris will take it all in his stride, won’t he?