Boris stuns May summit with ‘polishing a t***’ jibe at Brexit deal
BORIS JOHNSON has opened up a new split in the ranks of the UK government, after a crude outburst against prime minister Theresa May’s new Brexit policy.
The UK Foreign Secretary stunned fellow ministers with his four-letter dismissal of Mrs May’s plan at Friday’s special summit designed to unite the feuding cabinet. His comment risks making him the first victim of Mrs May’s fresh crackdown on dissent.
Mr Johnson – who has been accused of betrayal by hardline Tory Brexiteers for not blocking Mrs May’s ‘soft Brexit’ proposals – spoke out against the plan for the UK to remain in line with Brussels rules in a new free trade zone with the EU.
According to sources, he complained that anyone obliged to defend the proposals would be ‘polishing a turd’. He added sarcastically: ‘Luckily we have some expert turd polishers’ – shooting a glance at one of Mrs May’s spin doctors.
Challenging the prime minister’s new policy to her face, he said that her decision to try to ‘align’ UK trading rules with the EU would reduce Britain to the humiliating status of a ‘vassal state’.
He also took issue with her new customs plan, the Facilitated Customs Arrangement (FCA), claiming it would be a ‘serious inhibitor’ to striking new trade deals with nonEU countries.
His outburst was revealed just hours after Mrs May tried to draw a red line under weeks of open dissent from her ministers, vowing that from now on she will sack any ministers who defy her. Some senior Tories believe she may be forced to fire Mr Johnson.
The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke with Mrs May by phone yesterday when she briefed him on the outcome of the cabinet meeting.
A Government spokesman said: ‘The Taoiseach welcomed the fact that the UK government had reached a position where it would put forward detailed proposals for the future EU-UK relationship postBrexit. He looked forward to seeing greater detail on those proposals over the coming days and hoped they would be a helpful input to the negotiation process.
‘He noted that time is running out and the Government would engage constructively with the Barnier Task Force and the other member states over the coming weeks.
‘The Taoiseach made clear that the Government was open to proposals which meet our aims of avoiding a hard border and maintaining free trade with the UK, while respecting the EU single market and customs union. The Taoiseach and prime minister May agreed that they, and their offices, would maintain close contact in the period ahead.’
Speaking in Cork earlier today, Tanáiste Simon Coveney said what Mrs May had achieved was politi-
Plan would reduce Britain to ‘vassal state’
cally significant and marked the first time in six months where there was a unified position from the British cabinet.
“What we got yesterday was a clear statement from the British government that they want a close relationship with the single market, they want to do that in a way that avoids border checks and customs checks. I think that’s a positive signal,’ he said.
Last night, eurosceptic Tories said there was so much anger at Mrs May’s ‘sell-out’ that some MPs would submit no-confidence letters to challenge her leadership. And Jacob Rees-Mogg’s pro-Brexit European Research Group said the deal left the UK ‘on course for a “black hole” Brexit’ – meaning it would be sucked into the orbit of EU rules with no hope of escape.