BORIS: THE TORIES FACE EXTINCTION
He snubs Trump meeting to issue dire warning if party fails to deliver Brexit
Boris Johnson issued a drastic warning last night that the Conservative Party faces ‘extinction’ if it does not deliver Brexit.
Giving a leadership pitch to more than 80 Tory MPs, the front runner said his party would never be forgiven if it failed to get Britain out of the EU by October 31.
In the first leadership hustings, Mr Johnson warned of an existential crisis and said he was the only candidate who could put Nigel Farage ‘back in his box’. He admitted No Deal would be ‘disruptive’ and said it was not his aim. But he insisted MPs had to understand the gravity of the threat to the party from failing to secure a departure before the Brexit extension ended.
Mr Johnson also ruled out a coalition with Mr Farage’s Brexit Party, branded Jeremy Corbyn the weakest opposition leader in a generation and vowed not to hold a second referendum. The former foreign secretary’s warning came as:
■ Donald Trump said Mr Johnson would do a ‘very good job’ as prime minister – and offered a similar endorsement to Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt;
■ Tory grandees changed the leadership rules to require candidates to have the backing of at least eight fellow MPs;
■ Low-profile candidates James Cleverly and Kit Malthouse pulled out of the race, thinning the field to 11;
■ Leading Brexiteer Liam Fox endorsed Mr Hunt, saying the deal-making skills needed to ensure a managed departure
from the EU were ‘ in his DNA’;
■ The Conservative Party said the leadership race would be concluded in time for Britain to have a new PM by the week of July 22, when the Commons rises for the summer.
Mr Johnson spoke along with three of the other Tory leadership candidates at a hustings run by the centreright One Nation group.
So far, he has attracted more declared supporters than any of the other candidates, although Michael Gove and Mr hunt have both attracted significant support. Mr Johnson said he believed he was the best candidate to ‘excite’ the electorate.
‘We are looking at a very difficult situation and we must get ready, eventually but not immediately, to beat Jeremy Corbyn and put Farage back in his box,’ he said.
‘We are facing an existential crisis and will not be forgiven if we do not deliver Brexit on October 31. I believe I am best placed to lift this party, beat Jeremy Corbyn and excite people about Conservatism and Conservative values.
‘We need to realise the depth of the problems we face – unless we get on and do this thing, we will be punished for a very long time. There is a very real choice between getting Brexit done and the potential extinction of this great party – but I believe I can take on Farage and win back the voters being won over by him.’
Mr Johnson said the Brexit plan that did have the support of the Commons was the Brady amendment – which states that Theresa May’s deal will be passed only if the Irish backstop is scrapped.
he said this was the basis of a future arrangement – but he added the country must be ready for No Deal.
Mr Johnson said a second referendum would be divisive and said: ‘I will be against it with every fibre of my body. It was a tough experience for the country and a lot of us have been a bit bloodied.
‘It would be absolutely antidemocratic. The public are fed up to the teeth of kicking the can down the road.’
One MP, James Duddridge, said: ‘he had them in the palm of his hands even though it’s not his natural territory.’
Former defence secretary Gavin Williamson said: ‘There is a dawning realisation on so many colleagues that he is the only one who can save the party.’
Mr Johnson is being backed by three Tory rising stars, according to The Times. Moderate MPs Rishi Sunak, Robert Jenrick and Oliver Dowden hailed him as a One Nation Conservative who can ‘inspire the country and revitalise our party’. This puts Mr Johnson in the lead with 40 endorsements, 14 ahead of Jeremy hunt and Michael Gove.