My Chequers plan isn’t dead, insists PM May

THERESA May and other senior Conservatives have hit back at Boris Johnson after he claimed the Prime Minister’s Brexit policy was “deranged” and “preposterous”.

He also floated a series of policy ideas, including building a bridge to Ireland and halting the HS2 rail link.

Mr Johnson’s incendiary comments came as the Conservative Party’s annual conference began in Birmingham, with Mrs May (below) seeking to put herself on the front foot by announcing a new levy on foreigners buying homes in the

UK and plans for a national festival in 2022.

In remarks that will fuel speculation about his leadership ambitions, the former Foreign SecreSunday tary used a Times interview to say that “unlike the Prime Minister”, he had campaigned for Brexit and believed in it. Asked about his suggestion that her Chequers plan for the future relationship between the UK and the EU was “deranged”, Mrs May insisted she was acting in “the national interest”. She told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I believe that the plan that we have put forward is a plan that is in the national interest. This is a plan which ensures we deliver on the vote of the British people.”

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr Johnson sought to draw a contrast between his own approach to Brexit and that of the Prime Minister, who campaigned to Remain in the 2016 referendum.

“Unlike the Prime Minister, I fought for this, I believe in it, I think it’s the right thing for our country and I think that what is happening now is, alas, not what people were promised in 2016,” he said.

But Mrs May insisted: “I do believe in Brexit. Crucially, I believe in delivering Brexit in a way that respects the vote and delivers on the vote of the British people while also protecting our Union, protecting jobs and ensuring we make a success of Brexit for the future.”

Mrs May said that the blueprint agreed at her country residence in July was not dead, despite being branded unworkable by EU leaders in Salzburg.