Boris is ‘erratic and reckless’
Midland Tory rebel who lost the whip reveals doubts over Prime Minister and his senior adviser
FORMER Conservative MP Margot James has accused Boris Johnson of making “erratic and reckless decisions” and warned she is “deeply suspicious” of his senior adviser, Dominic Cummings.
Speaking the day after she lost the Tory whip for voting against the Government, she said: “As for the Conservative Party, I’m sad to say that at the moment it’s becoming the Brexit Party.”
And she had Mr Johnson had “shifted the party massively to the right” because of his “obsession at not being outflanked”.
Ms James is one of 21 Tories stripped of the whip because they backed a successful attempt on Tuesday night to allow MPs to take control of the agenda of the House of Commons.
It was a major defeat for Boris Johnson’s Government, and paved the way for opposition parties and rebel Tories – or former Tories – to introduce legislation designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday.
Others who lost the whip included Philip Hammond, David Gauke and Rory Stewart, all of whom were serving in Theresa May’s Cabinet just weeks ago
Ms James, the MP for Stourbridge in the Black Country since 2010, is a former vice-chair of the Conservative Party, and was a Minister in the Department for Business until July this year.
She knew before the vote that rebelling would mean losing the whip, which also means she cannot stand again as a Conservative candidate. Explaining why she did it, she told the Post: “I have always had deep concerns about leaving the EU without a deal.
“And I’ve had great concerns about this Prime Minister’s approach, which is why I resigned from the Government in July, to attempt to prevent him from proroguing Parliament.
“Yesterday, I felt it was highly likely to be the last opportunity for Parliament to reduce the risk of the country leaving without a deal. That’s why I did it.
“It was a much more difficult decision than I thought it would be.”
She said she believed Mr Johnson may want to negotiate a deal with the EU, but the same was not true of his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.
“I think the main obstacle to him [Mr Johnson] in getting a deal is that he has set the bar unrealistically high. I don’t know whether deliberately or not. I’m not going to cast aspersions on his motives.
“I do think his erratic and reckless decisions, such as proroguing Parliament, provoking everybody, creating even more division, and finally the summary dismissal of over 20 of his colleagues – and the eradication overnight of his majority – I think is reckless in the extreme. And I’m afraid it really does underline all the reasons that I did not vote for him as our leader back in July.
“I’m absolutely deeply suspicious of the motives of his chief of staff, Cummings. Cummings couldn’t care less if we got a deal.”
She said she believed it was possible to carry out Brexit successfully, but the UK needed to maintain good relationships with the EU.
“There are three economic powerhouses in the world. China, the EU and the US. Some of my colleagues hate the EU so much that they are fond of saying it’s all going to collapse and all that. I don’t think that’s true.
“We need to be closely aligned with one of those economic powerhouses. By leaving the EU with bad relations, which is what leaving with no deal will do – no deal will unite the EU against us – it will force us to become more reliant on the US.
“I think that is the height of folly, even in the best of times, let alone with a Trump White House.”
She added: “When Donald Trump won power on an ‘America first’ platform, he meant it. And he doesn’t make
Margot James MP
an exception for Britain, whatever Johnson might tell anyone.
“A trade deal with the US is very unlikely, and if it does happen it will be on their terms.”
She stressed that she admires many Conservative colleagues, and highlighted what she says is the good work of the Conservative leadership of Dudley council.
Losing the whip means that she cannot stand again as a Conservative candidate. But she says this did not mean she would stop being an MP after the next election.
She said: “I wouldn’t dream of drawing that conclusion. I won’t be an official Conservative MP, no.
“But I haven’t decided what I’m going to do. You can probably tell that I love politics, I loved my time in Government. Our political system is in absolute crisis, but I haven’t given up on it.”
Asked if she could consider joining a different party, she stresses that she really hasn’t decided what she plans to do. BORIS Johnson will attempt to call a General Election, after he was defeated by MPs for a second time over Brexit, as the Post went to press last night.
The Commons voted in favour of a law by 329 to 300 that will ban the Prime Minister from carrying out his promise to deliver Brexit on October 31, if there is no deal with the EU.
The defeat for Mr Johnson had been expected after the he lost a Commons vote on Tuesday night which began the process of making the legislation possible.
It means he is now bound by law to write to the EU asking for Brexit to be delayed until at least
January 31, unless MPs either approve a deal with the EU, or vote to allow a no-deal Brexit to go ahead.
But Mr Johnson has vowed that he will never ask for a further delay. Instead, he will now attempt to carry out his threat to call a general election, by moving a motion calling for a poll.
It really does underline all the reasons that I did not vote for him as our leader back in July