Is this what Boris is going to be like in the next few years?

I was amused to hear on the radio that Boris Johnson has waded into the BP situation by attacking American "anti-British rhetoric". He also said that the company was paying a very, very heavy price for the consequences of an accident and that UK pension funds had a “huge exposure” to BP

His words have a distinctly off-message tone and he is clearly positioning himself as the champion of the British underdog. Of course as Mayor of London he is not subject to the same diplomatic strictures that his governmental colleagues are. David Cameron might well agree with him but he cannot say so. He has to maintain relations with Obama and the US administration. William Hague for example has had to come out and say that he cannot detect any anti-Britishness in a clear rebuttal of Johnson's comments.

You can imagine senior Tories rolling their eyes in frustration at the fact that "good ol' Boris" is chipping in like this with his "voice of the people" act. After all, "He says wot the people are finkin' innit?".

We can expect to see much more of this sort of thing as Johnson continues to carve out his niche in anticipation of an eventual triumphant return to parliament and we can only presume a bid for the leadership at some point.

Of course then, episodes like today may come back to haunt him...