PLAN WOULD LEAVE UK AS ‘A COLONY’, SAYS BORIS
BORIS Johnson has denounced a mooted Brexit deal with the EU as an ‘absolute stinker’ that would leave the UK as ‘a colony’ and urged MPs to reject it.
The former British foreign secretary was responding to suggestions that Theresa May is close to striking a deal with Brussels which would allow the creation of a whole-UK customs union, avoiding the need for the Irish border backstop that has been at the heart of the impasse in negotiations.
The British prime minister expected to brief the Cabinet on progress in talks when members gather for their weekly meeting today. Reports at the weekend suggested the EU is now ready to contemplate concessions which would keep all of the UK in a temporary customs union following the end of the transition period due to end on December 31, 2020. It was also reported that Mrs May was on course to agree a future economic partnership that would leave open the possibility of a Canada-style free-trade deal sought by Brexiteers.
But Mr Johnson dismissed this format as ‘a Christmas present of the finest old Brussels fudge’ which would mean the UK getting ‘absolutely nothing in return’ for its €44million ‘divorce’ payment.
The UK would effectively become a non-voting EU member, forced to accept laws with no power to shape or amend them, he said. Writing in the Sun, Mr Johnson said the arrangement was a ‘national humiliation’, leaving the UK as ‘a vassal state, a colony’. Brussels would always use the prospect of a hard Irish border to keep the UK in its orbit, he claimed.