Boris Johnson has a talent for carefully calculated imprudence. The London mayor says, apparently artlessly, things others are advised not to say. The result is that while appearing as a buffoon, he is in fact one of the most thoughtful politicians of our time. These abilities were in evidence last week when he delivered the Margaret Thatcher memorial lecture.
Mr Johnson appeared to regard the observation that Britain had invaded 171 countries as a matter for pride not apology. But since he was clearly not suggesting we should once more adopt this foreign policy, his evident purpose was to wind up critics he knows will not vote for him anyway.
Other headline-grabbing observations were, similarly, truths that these critics think should go unmentioned rather than ones with which they could reasonably disagree. More people do have an IQ below 85 than above 130. (As Mr Johnson doubtless knows, this is a result of the way the statistics are constructed, not a function of the level and dispersion of achievement.)