Destination Brexit– whoever is driving

The reverberations from Boris Johnson’s article in this newspaper on Saturday continue to be felt. The Foreign Secretary set out an irrepressibly optimistic vision for this country’s future after Brexit, much in keeping with the prospectus he championed during the referendum campaign and which a majority of voters supported. The two major parties, which between them took 83 per cent of the votes in the general election in June, are committed to leaving; but differences continue over how this should be achieved.

The Government has been inching towards a position whereby the UK would seek to negotiate an implementation period for two or three years from the date of withdrawal in March 2019. It is likely that in order to achieve access to the EU’S market and various agencies during that time, and possibly beyond, the UK would pay a financial contribution that also reflects the final settlement of any outstanding debts that we owe.

It is anticipated that Theresa May will outline such an approach in her speech in Florence on Friday. However, Mr Johnson signalled in his article that he does not favour either measure. He has conceded that we must pay our legal obligations, but previously said the EU could “go whistle” for the sort of sums being talked about.

The Foreign Secretary’s Cabinet colleagues are unhappy with his intervention. Some are livid. Two described him as a “back-seat driver” and insisted that the Prime Minister was in control of the car, even if there have been few signs of her motoring skills in the past few months.

There is a danger of these differences turning into a political crisis. It must be possible to synthesise both approaches. Mr Johnson’s optimistic view of the possibilities offered by Brexit is a welcome counter-weight to the litany of negativity. But equally, we have to get there; and with the Government losing its majority in June this will not be as easy as it might otherwise have been. It will need compromise all round.

Mr Johnson has set out the arguments for Brexit in similar terms to those used by Mrs May in her Lancaster House speech earlier this year. But the election changed the parliamentary arithmetic and has made delivering it more difficult. Whether or not Mr Johnson is driving from the back seat, what matters is that everyone is heading in the same direction and is intent on getting there.