Boris back from the brink
After fevered speculation, he insists he’ll stay on – and backs May over Brexit
BORIS Johnson dramatically pulled back from the brink of resignation last night as he publicly insisted that he backed Theresa May on Brexit.
After days of prevarication, in which he hinted he could walk out as Foreign Secretary, Mr Johnson indicated he had shelved immediate thoughts of quitting.
Asked if he was going to resign, he said: ‘No of course not, we are going to deliver a fantastic Brexit... We are a Government working together. We are a nest of singing birds.’
His apparent climbdown came after reports that he was so unhappy about the Government’s direction on Brexit that he could resign by the weekend.
Instead, sources last night confirmed that Mr Johnson would now attend the Prime Minister’s set-piece speech in Florence on Friday where she is due to set out ‘significant’ new thinking on her negotiating strategy.
Mr Johnson was also due to hold peace talks with Mrs May last night in the margins of a Commonwealth reception in New York – the first time they have spoken since he published an unauthorised 4,000-word essay on Britain’s post- Brexit future last week.
But Government sources, who have been braced for a walkout by Mr Johnson, indicated he remained on ‘resignation watch’.
A dramatic 24 hours began on Monday night when Mr Johnson hinted he was toying at resignation, saying: ‘When the burden of office is lifted from my shoulders I will of course look back with great pride on my time doing all sorts of things.’
Speculation reached fever pitch yesterday lunchtime when a friend told the Daily Telegraph that he ‘could not live with’ a deal that would see the UK shackled to the single market, like Switzerland.
However Mr Johnson, who was cornered by journalists in New York after going out for a jog, then insisted he was not about to quit, and added: ‘It’s all going very, very well.’
The PM’s official spokesman also insisted he did not expect the Foreign Secretary to resign this week. ‘He’s the Foreign Secretary and the PM thinks he’s doing a good job,’ he said.
Mrs May also backed him to stay in her Government, telling report- ers that ‘Boris is doing good work’ heading the Foreign Office and adding that the Cabinet has ‘one focus’ over Brexit.
The Prime Minister has summoned an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet tomorrow to brief ministers on her Florence speech.
Its precise contents currently remain a carefully guarded secret. But No 10 yesterday indicated that the PM is planning a major reset of the Government’s position.
Her spokesman said: ‘Clearly this is a significant moment in terms of progress on our future relationship with Europe.’ Mrs May hopes to use the speech to break the deadlock in the Brexit negotiations and kickstart talks on a new trade deal.
She is expected to formally set out plans for a transitional deal with the EU, which would see the UK continue to make budget contributions to Brussels for around two years.
Cabinet sources say ministers have agreed an uneasy truce on the arrangement. But divisions remain on the UK’s future relationship with Europe.
Pro-Remain ministers, including Chancellor Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Amber Rudd, are pushing for a Swiss-style deal that would keep the UK shackled to the single market.
But Brexiteers, including Mr Johnson and Environment Secretary Michael Gove, want a much looser deal focusing on trade, similar to the one enjoyed by Canada.
Relations between Mr Johnson and Mrs May remain in the deep freeze. Despite the fact the pair are staying in the same hotel in New York, they have not spoken since Mr Johnson released his essay last week, which set out a positive case for making a clean break with the EU.
The row has overshadowed the build-up to Mrs May’s pivotal speech this week.
Former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke yesterday said Mr Johnson deserved to be sacked for his essay last week – and would have been if Mrs May had been stronger.
Mr Clarke described Mr Johnson’s intervention as an ‘irrelevant nuisance’. He added: ‘Sounding off personally in this way is totally unhelpful and he shouldn’t exploit the fact that (Theresa May) hasn’t got a majority in Parliament.’
But Eurosceptic Tories said Mr Johnson was right to make the positive case for Brexit.
Jacob Rees-Mogg said he should be ‘given a knighthood for it, certainly not sacked’.
He added: ‘Boris Johnson is grasping the positivity of it and putting that forward to the British people in full support of Mrs May.
‘I don’t think it is undermining her. The Foreign Secretary has responsibility for foreign affairs and as that includes our relationship with the EU it is reasonable for him to make speeches on that.
‘It’s a really important speech and it’s changed the whole tone of the debate.
‘At last we’re thinking about how we’re going to prosper outside of EU rather than this “poor little Blighty” approach.’
‘On resignation watch’