Boris met up with Argentine President and libertarian hero Javier Milei last night. Quite the way to keep up the book tour…

Great conversation with @JMilei in Buenos Aires. Truly uplifting to hear his defence of freedom, capitalism, open markets and democracy worldwide. pic.twitter.com/xwTmcsVjwo

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 15, 2024

Milei is locked in a battle with Congress and the unions to unleash the Argentine economy. Lots to chat about…

UPDATE: MercoPress writes up the visit:

“During Monday’s encounter, Johnson gave Milei a copy of his latest book, in which he confesses to having evaluated ‘a water raid’ in the Netherlands to steal doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccines. Johnson’s book went on sale in Great Britain last Thursday and will be available in the rest of the world in the coming weeks.

After a meeting lasting more than an hour, Johnson appeared on the Casa Rosada balcony to greet bypassers.

During their encounter, Milei recalled his teenage years’ band in which he sang cover versions of Rolling Stones songs, impersonating Jagger both in voice and dancing. At the same time, the Malvinas issue was never addressed, according to Casa Rosada sources.”

Boris Johnson says Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if Trump were president…

“I happen to believe that when Donald Trump says that had he been President, there would have been no Russian invasion of Ukraine. My view is that is a credible assertion.”

Matt Chorley’s aggressive interview with Boris yesterday on 5 Live has raised a few eyebrows. The BBC’s newest hire (and its snippiest critic) got into a tired shouting match with Boris yesterday about whether the former PM is a “liar.” Chorley wouldn’t let Boris answer his own snarky questions…

Chorley admitted in a newsletter sent out later that viewers were not happy with his interview style:

“The reaction to the interview was divided almost equally – I was too shouty, he was too shouty, I wouldn’t let him speak, he wouldn’t answer the questions. But as always, everyone has a view.”

When an interviewer says the reaction to their interview was equally mixed – that means it was terrible. To top it off Chorley spent the rest of the day retweeting the odd random punter who said he did well. Is the BBC regretting its latest hire yet?

Boris was the toast of Westminster’s elite last night, as the former Prime Minister made a grand entrance (albeit 45 minutes late, as is his usual form) at the swanky Institute of Directors on Pall Mall for the launch of his book, “Unleashed”. The room was packed with hacks and cabinet ministers of past and present. Of the leadership hopefuls, only Cleverly showed up, managing to sneak a snap with the former Prime Minister. Doesn’t mean it’s an endorsement from BoJo, though..

Boris’ speech was (characteristically) peppered with jokes. He quipped his publisher commissioned Starmer to write his vision for Britain for £18,000 in advance but, unable to produce anything, he returned the money – “ a totally uncharacteristic decision” – that paid for the launch party. The former PM then went on to reflect on the string of “random events” that derailed his reign:

“If only Dylan the dog had not so rudely rogered the leg of one of my senior advisors…If only I had not gone out to an excessively convivial dinner with Charles Moore and others after the triumphant UK chairmanship of COP26…If only my friend Chris Pincher had not allowed his hand to wander freely. If only, above all, a certain short-sighted pangolin had not made a pass at a bat in a cave in Wuhan, or possibly a lab, or wherever it went. “

One insider who was in the room said:

“It was classic Boris on best form, the room was rammed, as the misery of the Tory leadership drags on, everyone left thinking: what the hell did we get rid of him for?”

If only, Boris said, he could “have saved this country from an insane Marxist Labour party.” He went on to tease: “I feel it would be much better if I was to run the show”. Never say never…

Boris has done a long interview with Wilfred Frost on Sky News. Apart from pointing out that the public ‘craved’ lockdown rules, Boris had a few words about his old chum Sue Gray:

“I appointed Sue Gray, who then turned out to be the Chief of Staff leader of the Labour Party – RIP… “

Boris issued his analysis of the current Downing Street implosion:

“At the time that I asked her to do that particular job, she had presented to me as a model of political impartiality and propriety, and I’m not certain about either of those things…. I thought it was always looking a bit dodgy – her position was probably going to be untenable ever since it emerged that her son had taken money from Waheed Alli, and that she’d then given Waheed Alli a pass to No 10. I thought that was probably going to end in the way that it has.”

Cronies gonna crony…