‘Let’s come together’, May challenges critics of Brexit
Plan deranged: Johnson
BIRMINGHAM, England, Sept 30, (Agencies): Prime Minister called on her party on Sunday to unite behind her plan to leave the European Union, making a direct appeal to critics by saying their desire for a free trade deal was at the heart of her Brexit proposals.
At the start of what is set to be one of the Conservative Party’s stormiest annual conferences, May’s plans were once again attacked by two former ministers, with former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, calling them “deranged”.
Just six months before Britain is due to leave the EU in the country’s biggest shift in foreign and trade policy in more than 40 years, the debate over how to leave the bloc is still raging in the centre-right Conservative Party, and even in government.
May’s already fragile leadership was put under further pressure this month when the EU rejected parts of the so-called Chequers plan. But she put a positive spin on those talks, saying she was ready to consider the EU’s concerns.
“My message to my party is let’s come together and get the best deal for Britain,” May told the BBC in the central English city of Birmingham.
“At the heart of the Chequers plan is a free trade deal, a free trade area and frictionless trade ... Chequers at the moment is the only plan on the table that delivers on the Brexit vote ... and also delivers for the people of Northern Ireland.”
May has shown little sign of shifting away from her Chequers plan, named after her country residence where she hashed out an agreement on Brexit with her ministers in July, despite growing criticism that her proposals offer the worst of all worlds.
Johnson, who quit May’s cabinet after Chequers was agreed, called her plans “deranged” and attacked the prime minister for not believing in Brexit.
He, and the former Brexit minister David Davis, are pushing for a Canada-style free trade deal with the EU — a proposal May says will split Northern Ireland from mainland Britain by making the British province adhere to different customs rules.
Greg Clark, May’s business minister, said such a trade deal would also hurt businesses by clogging up international supply chains that are crucial to companies, such as car manufacturers.
Conservatives probe data breach:
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party is investigating a data breach which let members of the public log into a smartphone app as senior government ministers and view their personal details.
“Any breach is a serious breach that’s why we are fully investigating it and are taking it very seriously,” party chairman Brandon Lewis told Sky News on Sunday.
Speaking on the first day of the party’s annual conference, which the app was promoting, Lewis said a “limited” number of users had been affected.
On Saturday, a columnist with the Guardian newspaper, Dawn Foster, discovered that a flaw in the app allowed users to log in as anyone attending the party conference, simply by entering an email address.
Lewis said the breach had been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Britain’s data regulator, and that the loophole had been shut down within 30 minutes of the party being notified.
When active, the flaw meant the mobile phone numbers of all those attending the conference — lawmakers, including senior government ministers, party members and journalists — could be accessed. On Twitter, Foster showed how she had been able to log into the system as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson.