As per Guido’s story a couple of hours ago, Boris has gone ahead with Tony Abbott joining the UK’s new top post-Brexit trade board. The list in full:

• Secretary of State for Scotland
• Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• Secretary of State for Wales
• Minister for Trade Policy (invited when relevant to Ministerial portfolio)
• Minister for Investment (invited when relevant to Ministerial portfolio)
• Minister for Exports (invited when relevant to Ministerial portfolio)
• Minister for International Trade (invited when relevant to Ministerial portfolio)
• The Hon Tony Abbott
• Karen Betts
• Anne Boden MBE
• Daniel Hannan
• Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt
• Emma Howard Boyd
• Michael Liebreich
• Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of the City of London, William Russell
• Dr Linda Yueh

You’re either in front of Guido, or behind…

Guido has confirmed the story published earlier by the Sydney Herald that the Government is defying the backlash to approve Tony Abbott. The former Aussie PM, along with the full list of Trade Board appointees, is to announced “imminently”. Thank goodness the Government appears to have held their nerve on this one…

As the Tony Abbott debate drags on, his former chief of staff Peta Credlin took to TalkRADIO this morning to defended her former boss, pointing out that for a so-called sexist every single one of his Chief of Staffs during his 25-year parliamentary career were strong women. Also this morning, former Aussie PM Julia Gillard appeared on Sky News reminiscing about her now-infamous speech accusing Abbott of misogyny, which Sky went as far as re-broadcasting…

Peta Credlin contextualised the speech for a UK audience, pointing out that quite from it being a strong rebuking of sexism, PM Gillard was in fact defending her biased left-wing speaker of the house – at the time embroiled in a sexism scandal after texts leaked involving “vulgar euphemisms for female genitalia” – by trying to move the focus onto Abbott. Her main attack was that someone once held up a sexist sign behind him at a rally…

Some of the texts Gillard was defending her speaker over included ”They [female genitalia] look like mussell [sic] removed from its shell. Look at a bottle of mussel meat. Salty C..ts in brine.” and “I’m going to smack u. Arhhhhhhhh.” Guido’s sure Brits will be able to comprehend left-wingers overlooking a problematic speaker because he favours their side…

The Government is facing pressure over the expected appointment of the former Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, to the Board of Trade, to help lead the UK’s new free trading mission post-Brexit in a similar way to which he championed free trade while Prime Minister of Australia. Left-wing news outlets have been hitting out at Abbott over old quotes and his Catholic faith. Guido thought he would balance the record with ten reasons to appoint Tony Abbott.

1. Tony Abbott won a landslide victory as the democratically elected Prime Minister of Australia.
2. The Abbott government concluded a major trade deal with China.
3. The Abbott government concluded a major trade deal with Japan.
4. The Abbott government concluded a major trade deal with South Korea.
5. The Abbott government worked on four further trade negotiations that were signed after his tenure as PM.
6. The Abbott government also successfully stopped the boats. In 2013 there were 300 illegal migrant boat arrivals on Australian shores, carrying over 20,000 people. By 2014 there were zero.
7. Despite media suggestions otherwise, Abbott is known to be kind and courteous to gay people. He attended his sister’s wedding to celebrate her marriage to her wife.
8. On LGBT rights, Julia Gillard’s government opposed same sex marriage when she was in office, whereas Abbott’s set in motion the legalisation for the plebiscite.
9. Similarly Abbott was praised by Catherine McGregor – the world’s most senior transgender military officer – for supporting her.
10. He reads Guido.

If this Government backs down this will be yet another U-turn for an administration increasingly seen as weak and doddering after a muddled summer. Boris should not buckle to media haranguing. Sticking to his guns and appointing Abbott, as Number 10 clearly planned to do, would start to turn the tide on the accusations of indecision.

Former Aussie PM and potential new joint-president of the Board of Trade Tony Abbott has talked up the prospect of greater trade and cooperation between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, in response to a question about commonwealth trade initiatives, particularly with countries that are of similar levels of economic development. His response was tacit endorsement of CANZUK…

“The Australian Government is committed to freer trade under the right circumstances, the British Government is obviously very very keen to conclude freer trade deals with as many countries as it can as quickly as possible, Canada yes is disposed the same way, I’m reluctant to speak for our siblings across the Tasmen [New Zealand], but that’s traditionally been their position as well.

I’ve always taken the view that with for argument’s sake with all of the the Five Eyes countries, we are yes juridically separate entities but we are not really foreign to each other and long may that be the case.”

First the leader of the Canadian Conservatives, now the former Aussie PM. Momentum…

Following the news last night that Boris is set to appoint former Aussie PM Tony Abbott as President of the Board of Trade, the current Australian Premier Scott Morrison has reacted with delight, telling reporters:

“Good hire! I think that’s a good hire… well done Boris”

The boost to Anglo-Australian relations comes just days after the new CANZUK-advocating Erin O’Toole was elected leader of the Canadian Tory Party who could be on the brink of election victory. Boris just needs to woo Jacinda Ardern and the CANZUK show can get on the road…