May’s Brexit plan is deranged: Johnson

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has branded British Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan for leaving the EU “deranged,” fuelling tensions as the ruling Conservative Party holds its annual conference.

Johnson told the Sunday Times that May’s Brexit plan won’t work, particularly proposals that would require Britain and the EU to collect each other’s tariffs.

“It is entirely preposterous,” he said. “The idea that we could ask customs officers in Dubrovnik and Santander to charge British-only tariffs is deranged, and nobody thinks it can work. There will be economic and political damage to the U.K.”

May is under siege from members of her own party as the Conservatives opened their annual conference on Sunday in the central England city of Birmingham.

While most conferences offer a chance for the leader to rally the troops, May’s goal at this fourday gathering is to survive amid deepening opposition to her Brexit plan and growing support for a second referendum on Britain’s EU membership.

May’s plan would keep Britain in the EU’s single market for goods while letting the country write its own rules on services and strike free-trade deals with third parties. EU leaders have rejected that idea, saying the UK wants to retain the benefits of EU membership without accepting its responsibilities. AP

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