Operation Stop Boris
Johnson allies believe Rory Stewart is ‘hitman’ acting for other rival
ALLIEs of Boris Johnson last night expressed fears that a secret operation was underway to scupper his leadership hopes – just as he prepared to unveil his manifesto for power.
The frontrunner’s supporters raised suspicions that leadership rival Rory stewart was acting as a ‘hitman’ on behalf of another candidate after he launched a series of extraordinary attacks throughout the weekend.
After pledging to resign from the Cabinet if the former foreign secretary became prime minister, Mr stewart, the International Development secretary, yesterday warned that Mr Johnson’s Brexit plan would destroy the country’s reputation around the world.
A source close to Mr stewart last night dismissed allegations he was acting as a proxy as ‘completely and utterly untrue’. she added: ‘He’s entered the race with the aim of winning it.’
However, Mr Johnson, the leadership frontrunner, yesterday came under fire from all sides as his rivals tried to halt his march to No 10. Mr Johnson will set out his stall this morning and will argue the Tories must deliver on their Brexit promises if they are to survive. He will say: ‘No one sensible would aim exclusively for a No Deal exit.
‘No one responsible would take No Deal off the table.’
Last night he warned the Tories ‘will be fired [and] dismissed from the job of running the country’ if they fail to get out of the EU ‘properly’ and do not ‘get Brexit right’.
He wrote in The Daily Telegraph: ‘If we fail yet again to discharge that mandate, then I fear we will see a permanent haemorrhage of Conservative support, and loyal voters who have left us to join the Brexit Party (and others) may simply never come back.’ Mr Johnson said his ‘winning agenda’ would include spending more on public services including schools and the police.
‘It is only by having safe streets, efficient transport, and excellent public services, that you can create the ideal conditions for private sector investment and growth, which leads to more tax revenues,’ he added.
Yesterday, his main rival for the affections of Tory Brexiteers, the former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, three times described himself as a ‘details man’ in an apparent
‘No Deal is a recipe for delay and uncertainty’
swipe. Asked why Tories should back him instead of Mr Johnson, Mr Raab told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: ‘I think if you look at some of the polling, I think I’m a less known figure, and actually I think I can appeal to those aspirational low and middle income families in this country.
‘I think I’ve got the conviction, the vision. I think I’ve probably set out more about what the fair society and the fair economy looks like for workers and for young people in this country. But also, I’m a details man. I’m a lawyer, I’ve done these negotiations before.’
Mr stewart, who announced his intention to stand earlier this month, yesterday stepped up his warnings against Mr Johnson’s plan to take the country out of the EU on October 31 – with or without a deal.
In a series of posts on Twitter, he wrote: ‘Boris’s No Deal policy cannot get through Parliament. He would have to risk a general election, and a Corbyn government.’
He added: ‘We need to acknowledge that a No Deal Brexit would in a single day undermine 400 years of our reputation for economic stability and competence. Any credible economic strategy for our future should rule it out.’ In another message, he wrote: ‘No Deal is a recipe for delay and uncertainty.’ His tweets came after he earlier in the weekend branded Mr Johnson ‘Pinocchio’ and said: ‘I could not serve in a Government whose policy was to push this country into a No Deal Brexit. I could not serve with Boris Johnson.’
Tory MP Conor Burns, who is one of Mr Johnson’s leading supporters, yesterday criticised the effort to stop him getting the top job. He tweeted: ‘The Conservative Party has an opportunity to have a mature and reasonable debate about the issues confronting the UK… To have any “stop X candidate” campaigns would demean that process…’