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Evening Standard comment: Soon we will find out who really holds power; Royals don’t fear Farage; Gnomes’ home on show

The Government is busy making up stories to fill the news.

Tougher sentences for sex offenders. More prison places. New police officers. Shorter waiting times to see a GP. New hospitals. More ships for the Navy. What links them?

They are populist, expensive and may never happen. Why? Because if the normal forces of politics applied, this Government would not stick around long enough to try them out.

But do the normal forces of politics still apply? That is what we are about to find out.

In the short time since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, it has felt as if everything has changed. But then that’s how it always feels for a bit when new prime ministers arrive, including the last two not to take office after a general election, Gordon Brown and Theresa May.

Supporters of the hardest forms of Brexit are preening themselves. Remainers are downcast.

A new report from the Institute for Government points out that Parliament may lack the tools to stop no-deal, and that the constitution might not force the Prime Minister out of office even if he loses a vote of confidence in Parliament.

But look at what has actually happened since Mr Johnson took over — rather than how it feels.

His party immediately lost a by-election to the pro-Remain Liberal Democrats, cutting its majority to not much more than one — and even that depends on sustaining a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party.

He’s opposed by many MPs on his own side.

Economic data showed growth has gone into reverse for the first time in seven years and that may be followed by recession.

A poll suggested Scots may now back independence.

The European Union is holding firm in support of the Brexit deal which Mr Johnson’s predecessor negotiated and there is little chance of it bailing him out by changing the agreement.

Daily meetings of the XO Cabinet sub-committee on no-deal Brexit cannot wish away the catastrophic consequences of storming out on October 31 without a plan — as the Justice Secretary pointed out in an interview this morning.

Even in this most pro-Brexit of governments, there are ministers and advisers who know that a winter election amid chaos, with a shrinking economy, is the opposite of a guaranteed path to victory.

Looked at like this, Mr Johnson is not in a strong place at all. Indeed he might not be in charge of his destiny.

If his opponents return from their summer determined to make the normal forces of politics apply, they will find they are a lot more powerful than it looks right now.

But that relies on the opposition getting its act together — and there’s still little sign of that.

Royals don’t fear Farage

Heard the one about Nigel Farage and the after-dinner speech about the royal family?

One’s a beer-soaked loudmouth who likes to run his country down. The other is a national institution respected around the world.

In a speech in Australia, Mr Farage has been caught boasting that he hopes “Charlie Boy” does not become king for a “very, very long time” and then turned on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their “irrelevant” campaigns on climate change and social justice.

He also called the late Queen Mother an “overweight, chain-smoking gin-drinker” although from him that is probably meant as praise.

Let’s not indulge him by getting outraged. Just ask who does most to serve their country.

Answer: it’s not Mr Farage.

Gnomes’ home on show

This week you can try to get into the V&A’s blockbuster exhibition on Christian Dior or catch a show on manga at the British Museum.

But why follow the crowds?

As we report today, London also offers a Museum of Breadboards, a Museum of Sex Objects and a rare gnome collection in Harrow.

They are just some of the small, sometimes strange sites open as part of the annual Heritage Open Days next month. Just check before you get there.

It would be awkward to mix up the gnomes with the sex toys.