The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
May can deliver but must change tack— Johnson
BREXIT: Former foreign secretary urges a return to Global Britain vision
Boris Johnson has issued a call for Theresa May to tear up her “miserable” plans for close relations with the European Union after Brexit and return to the “glorious vision” of Global Britain, which she set out last year.
In a highly charged personal statement to the House of Commons following his resignation as foreign secretary, Mr Johnson did not make a direct challenge to Mrs May’s position as Prime Minister and Conservative leader.
He did, however, denounce the plan agreed at Chequers and set out in the PM’s white paper last week as a “Brexit in name only”, which would leave the UK in a state of “vassalage”.
He left no doubt of his intention to put himself at the head of Tory backbench forces demanding a return to Mrs May’s original red lines of total withdrawal from the customs union and single market to allow Britain the unfettered ability to forge global trade deals.
Accusing the Government of “dithering”, he said that a “fog of self-doubt” had descended on Mrs May’s stance to EU withdrawal since she first set it out in a speech at Lancaster House last year.
In a 12-minute statement, he said: “It is not too late to save Brexit.
“We have time in these negotiations. “We have changed tack once and we can change again.
“The problem is not that we have failed to make the case for a free trade agreement of the kind spelt out at Lancaster House. We haven’t even tried.
“We must try now because we will not get another chance to do it right.”
Mrs May was not present to hear Mr Johnson’s statement, as she was answering questions on Brexit from senior MPs at a long-planned hearing of the House of Commons Liaison Committee.
The Uxbridge MP made a point of praising “her courage and her resil- ience” and indicated he thought she could lead the UK to a successful Brexit if she was willing to change tack, but he was scathing about the government’s handling of negotiations so far, saying it had:
Failed to turn the Lancaster House vision into a firm offer.
Agreed to hand over £40 billion with no promise of a future trade deal.
Accepted European Court of Justice jurisdiction over parts of the withdrawal agreement.
Allowed the issue of the Northern Irish border to dominate the debate.
The statement won support from Nigel Farage but the former Ukip leader made clear he did not believe the Brexit desired by Mr Johnson could ever be delivered by Mrs May.
The former foreign secretary was, however, mocked by pro-EU MPs.
Labour’s David Lammy said: “Boris Johnson’s after-dinner speaking fee must have plummeted faster than the pound after that dreary, self-important resignation speech.”
Wes Streeting, a supporter of the People’s Vote campaign for a second referendum, said: “Mr Johnson’s speech showed the proposals on the table satisfy nobody.”