BORIS WILL NEVER BE PM, SAYS HAMMOND
In searing attack, Chancellor mocks Johnson’s failure to grasp detail and plummy voice – and claims his biggest achievement is ‘Boris Bikes’
PhiliP hammond last night launched a blistering personal attack on Boris Johnson.
He said the former foreign secretary was incapable of ‘grownup’ politics and did not have a clue how his own proposal for a Brexit deal would work.
On the eve of his speech to the Tory Party conference, the Chancellor also said Mr Johnson was doomed to fail in his bid to be the next Conservative prime minister.
‘I don’t expect it to happen,’ he told the Daily Mail in a candid and wide-ranging interview. Mr Hammond revealed he had repeatedly told Mr Johnson that his ‘Canada-style’ plan would not work – but Mr Johnson made no serious attempt to defend it. In a withering put- down, he said Mr Johnson’s main political achievement was ‘Boris Bikes’ in his days as London Mayor and he had no grasp of ‘detail’ when it came to matters of state such as Brexit.
Mr Hammond shrugged off his cautious ‘Fiscal Phil’ image and openly mocked Mr Johnson by doing an impression of his trademark plummy vowels and stuttering bluff manner.
Asked about Mr Johnson’s attack
on Mrs May’s Brexit plan as ‘supine’ and ‘deranged’, he said: ‘Boris is a wonderful character, but he’s never been a detail man. I’ve had many discussions with him on Brexit.’
When the pair discussed a ‘Canadastyle’ trade deal, ‘Boris sits there and at the end of it he says “yeah but, er, there must be a way, I mean, if you just, if you, erm, come on, we can do it Phil, we can do it. I know we can get there.” ‘And that’s it!’ exclaimed the Chancellor, mimicking the Old Etonian.
He continued: ‘You know? No rebuttal of the arguments.’ Then Mr Hammond resumed his Boris impression: ‘“We just have to want it a bit more, we just have to wish a bit harder, we just have to be a bit more bullish and it will all be fine”.
‘But it won’t all be fine because we are dealing with grown ups here and we have to deal with the real world situation we face.’ It came as:
Mrs May rounded on Mr Johnson for questioning her commitment to leaving the EU, declaring for the first time: ‘I believe in Brexit’;
Mr Johnson stepped up his rhetoric against the Chequers deal, describing it as ‘deranged’;
A poll found 64 per cent of Tory voters want MPs to back whatever deal Mrs May comes back with from Brussels;
Ex-Brexit secretary David Davis said there was an 80-90 per cent chance a Brexit deal would be struck, but said brinkmanship by the EU would result in a ‘very scary few months’;
Michael Gove said he would be ‘open’ to the idea of a Canada-style trade deal if the EU rejects the Chequers deal, warning that a no deal exit was ‘ not something I contemplate with a glad heart’;
Mrs May joined a standing ovation for former CBI chief Digby Jones, after he described Mr Johnson as ‘irrelevant and offensive’.
Mr Hammond’s outspoken remarks reflect a growing fury among Mrs May’s Cabinet allies at Mr Johnson’s increasingly provocative attacks on her handling of Brexit negotiations. Mr Johnson’s call for a free trade deal based on a similar agreement between Canada and the EU is backed by many Tory MPs, and reportedly, by a growing number of ministers.
It threatens to turn the Conservative conference in Birmingham into a political bloodbath and risks toppling Mrs May. Belittling Mr Johnson’s track record, the Chancellor said his ‘political experience is the triumph of will, of personality, that’s his experience as London Mayor. What were Boris’ policies as mayor? You can think of one or two like Boris Bikes. But I’m afraid when you are negotiating with the EU, you have to look at the facts and details.’
It was vital to understand the EU’s position to have any hope of reaching an agreement with them, he said.
‘That’s not supine, that’s not capitulation. Anyone who’s ever done any negotiation will tell you it’s just simple common sense that you need to understand the position of your opponent to negotiate effectively with them.’
Mr Hammond denied that Mrs May’s Brexit deal was effectively dead in the water. Invited to compare it with the famous Monty Python TV sketch, he joked the Chequers plan was ‘not an ex parrot’.
He said Mr Johnson’s deal was ‘ wishful thinking’ and would not work because it could lead to a return to terrorism in Northern Ireland; would split Britain from Northern Ireland; cause delays in lorries crossing the Channel which would put food prices up – and the UK would have to cough up the £39billion EU ‘divorce’ bill before Brussels agreed to detailed talks on any such deal.
Mr Hammond also issued a fresh warning to Brussels that they must reconsider their flat rejection of Mrs May’s Chequers plan. ‘The EU can’t just sit there and say it doesn’t work,’ he said. ‘They have got to come back and tell us which bits don’t work and why.’