MRS MAY’S MOST DANGEROUS OPPONENT

THE last British Foreign Secretary to resign was Lord Carrington — 36 years ago — in the aftermath of the Argentine invasion of the Falklands in 1982.

Peter Carrington’s departure is widely regarded as the most honourable resignation of modern times — he took full responsibility for failing to foresee Argentina’s intentions.

It has to be admitted that Boris Johnson’s rushed decision to quit office yesterday lunchtime lacked the grace and gravitas of Lord Carrington’s departure.

Johnson hung on too long. He should have stepped down late on Friday, when Mrs May unveiled her negotiating position over Europe during that fateful all- day Cabinet meeting at Chequers.

But his departure is in its way as principled as Lord Carrington’s — and as his devastating resignation letter demonstrates, infinitely more dangerous for the Prime Minister.

It could prove lethal for her. This is a letter written not just to save his own integrity — it is also a relentless attack on Mrs May.

Most ministerial resignation letters carry a word of praise and expressions of personal warmth for the Prime Minister. None of that from Johnson.

Most resignation letters contain a bland promise to be a loyal servant from the backbenches. Johnson’s letter is devoid of any such assurance.

It looks very much to me as if he is preparing his way to mount a challenge to the Tory leadership. Sooner rather than later. Crucially, the letter carries strong echoes of Sir Geoffrey Howe’s notorious resignation speech in the Commons which propelled Margaret Thatcher from office in 1990. He accuses Mrs May of ‘sending our vanguard into battle with the white flags fluttering above them’.

That phrase is almost identical to Geoffrey Howe’s accusation that — also in negotiations with Europe — Thatcher had sent the Chancellor and Governor of the Bank of England into bat with broken cricket bats.

Indeed, if Sir Geoffrey were still alive he could sue Boris Johnson for plagiarism.

Conflict

With its lethal accusation that the Prime Minister is set on converting Britain into a ‘colony’, the letter also conveys Johnson’s sense of deep despair at May’s handling of negotiations with the European Union.

It is plain why Johnson could not remain inside the May Government while supporting a clean Brexit.

If Johnson is indeed planning to challenge May, though, he would be foolhardy to be impetuous and strike too soon. That would result in accusations of treachery.

Yet there is no doubt in my mind that if Theresa May suffers from a vote of no confidence by her MPs, the only logical course of action from the former Foreign Secretary is that he should mount a challenge.

Johnson and May are clearly divided by a massive conflict in their vision of Britain’s relationship with Europe. Their views on this are completely incompatible.

The letter shows clearly that trust between the two has broken down irreparably.

This became all the more apparent when it emerged that Downing Street — which Boris yesterday had warned in advance he would resign that evening — brutally and dishonourably leaked the news before he had even had time to write his resignation letter.

Over the next few days, Mr Johnson will face a barrage of contempt, hostility and criticism from supporters of the Prime Minister’s strategy on Europe. He will be accused of betrayal, opportunism, selfishness and also incompetence.

Plenty will revel in trashing the colourful former Foreign Secretary’s reputation. But I will not be among them.

I worked on The Spectator political magazine when he was its editor 15 years ago and can testify that far from being an opportunist, Mr Johnson was principled then and remains so now. Not least when it came to Europe.

His political opponents claim that his opposition to the European Union during the Brexit referendum campaign two years ago was a clever ruse to gain him popularity and help him become leader of the Conservative Party.

Rubbish. Mr Johnson has a record of criticising the EU dating back to the Nineties.

He will now become the de facto leader of opposition to Theresa May within the Tory Party. And I believe he could be formidable in that new role.

He has an acute political mind matched by remarkable eloquence as a speaker and writer.

Indeed, it may be that Mr Johnson will find his rhetorical flights better suited to the backbenches than to the sober responsibilities of Government.

Whatever his critics say, though, there were many achievements in Mr Johnson’s short time at the Foreign Office. Contrary to widespread reports, he was admired by officials who respected his ability to grasp a brief.

At all times he conveyed a buoyant optimism and he was certainly a massive improvement on his humdrum predecessor Philip Hammond.

He sought to preserve and enlarge Britain’s influence for good in the world, rather than accept and manage its decline.

I would also rate him higher as Foreign Secretary than the former Tory leader, dithering and gutless William Hague.

Mr Johnson made serious efforts to bring an end to the Syrian conflict and to keep afloat the special relationship with the United States at an exceptionally difficult time.

He deserves credit for the way Britain mustered European solidarity and support for Britain in the wake of the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury earlier this year.

Refusal

While maintaining a level head, Mr Johnson played an energetic and effective role in bringing the European Union round to Britain’s position that Russia was the most likely culprit of the attack.

He was also the first Foreign Secretary in recent memory to re-engage with the Commonwealth, an institution which has been systematically neglected by the Foreign Office.

The Commonwealth conference in London in April was a conspicuous success.

Equally striking was Boris Johnson’s courageous refusal to allow Theresa May and Philip Hammond to have it all their own way on Brexit. When other Brexiteers kept their head down, Johnson persistently spoke out for his vision of a clean Brexit — and of course it was this persistence and his refusal to budge that eventually led to his resignation.

It was he, for instance, who drafted many of the key sections of the Lancaster House speech last year which committed Mrs May to leaving the key institutions of the European Union.

And the sadness is that he was beginning to find his feet at the Foreign Office.

I believe he could have gone on to become one of Britain’s most respected Foreign Secretaries.

Slurs

True, Mr Johnson failed to do anything to prevent two great crises on his watch.

The first is in Yemen, where millions of people are threatened with starvation in the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century.

Nor did he take any meaningful action to halt the genocide inflicted on the Rohingya Muslims by the Myanmar government, which came to a brutal head in two weeks of cold-blooded killing and rape last autumn.

From today he has a new role as he turns into Mrs May’s most dangerous critic and opponent.

From now on he will no longer wish to be seen simply as a former Foreign Secretary.

Rather he will position himself as a leader of the Brexiteers and a potential future Prime Minister.

And to convince people he is serious, he will have to rise above the inevitable slurs against him and present his vision for our country’s independent future with boldness, clarity — and his customary eloquence.