Boris faces exodus

Fear of mass defections if Johnson wins race to become PM

BRITAIN’S Justice Secretary David Gauke and other MPs say they will quit if Boris Johnson becomes prime minister.

Mr Gauke, who has served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet since she took office in June 2016, told the Sunday Times he would not be able to serve under the former foreign secretary if he pursued a no-deal Brexit.

As the Tory leadership contest enters its final 48 hours, the prominent no-deal critic told the Sunday Times that crashing out of the European Union would lead to national “humiliation”.

“Given that I’ve been in the cabinet since Theresa May came to power, I think the appropriate thing is for me to resign to her,” Mr Gauke said. The paper also reported that up to six Tory MPs are considering defecting to the Liberal Democrats should Mr Johnson beat his rival Jeremy Hunt and enter Number 10 – leaving him with no majority in the Commons.

The ballot for the Tory leadership race will close today, with the result announced tomorrow.

Mr Johnson, who is widely predicted to win the contest, has reportedly been secretly wooed by European politicians and officials in a bid to thrash out a new Brexit plan to avoid a no-deal exit, the Sunday Times reported.

It said figures from Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands had established contact with the frontrunner’s team and signalled their intention to do a deal. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has indicated Dublin is prepared to compromise.

Mr Johnson has pledged to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 with or without a deal, but Mr Coveney said in an article for the Sunday Times that EU member Ireland wanted to avoid a no-deal exit at all costs.

“A no-deal Brexit would devastate the northern Irish economy,” he wrote.