I'm not sure theguardian.com has ever before published the words "You should read Simon Heffer", but if you can't stand Boris Johnson and you've got a spare two minutes, then I'm afraid to say - you should.
Boris has taken plenty of criticism on this site from the likes of Polly Toynbee and Jonathan Freedland. But nothing those two have written this week fizzes with as much loathing as Heffer's column.
Here are some highlights:
"Mr Johnson is not a politician. He is an act."
"If Mr Johnson became mayor tomorrow, he would be the front man for nameless others who would run London."
"One of Mr Johnson's failings is a belief that the public is there to serve him, not vice versa .... Would a Johnson mayoralty be yet one more chapter in an epic of charlatanry - perhaps, since it is so serious a job with potentially no hiding place, the last chapter?"
"The guiding theme of his life is the charm of doing nothing properly."
"Who will guide the unguided missile?"
Heffer and Boris were colleagues at the Telegraph. Indeed, Heffer was comment editor when Boris was the paper's star columnist.
At various times they have both been tipped as future Telegraph editors. For connoisseurs of workplace feuds, the piece is a joy.
But there is also a political dimension. Boris is enthusiastic for Cameroonian modernisation. Heffer isn't. The article is a reminder of the old adage that, in politics, your opponents are on the other side; your enemies are sitting next to you.
There is a lively debate about it at ConservativeHome. The consensus seems to be that Heffer has gone too far.
