The Guardian view on Boris Johnson: plain speaking without a purpose | Editorial

Bluntness can be valuable, but foreign secretaries should deploy it for a reason and not on a whimA foreign secretary, Harold Macmillan observed, is forever poised between cliche and indiscretion. It should be no surprise that Boris Johnson – who is, as a better diplomat might say, the possessor of a lively mind – tilts persistently toward the latter. His avoidance of the circumlocutions favoured by most politicians led to a popular misconception that he is a straight shooter. It wou