I’m in control, insists May, as she slaps down ‘backseat’ Boris
PM maintains that she is driving talks after Foreign Secretary split Cabinet with his vision for Brexit
THERESA MAY insisted yesterday that she was “driving from the front” as she sought to reassert her authority by strengthening her grip on Brexit negotiations.
The Prime Minister rebuked Boris Johnson after he set out his own vision of Brexit in a 4,000-word article in The Daily Telegraph last Saturday.
She also refused to endorse the Foreign Secretary’s claim that the UK would be able to “take back control” of £350million a week after Brexit and divert some of the money to the NHS.
She made her comments, while on a trip to Canada, as it emerged that she has appointed Britain’s most senior Brexit official as her own EU adviser.
Oliver Robbins has left his role as permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union after a series of clashes with David Davis, the Brexit Secretary. He will continue in his role as the UK’S EU sherpa in the Cabinet Office, where he will report directly to Mrs May in what is seen as a significant blow to Mr Davis.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson refused to deny categorically that he could resign Brexit amid mounting speculation about his future. Asked if he could quit as Foreign Secretary, he paused before saying that the interviewer was “barking up the wrong tree”.
He added: “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.”
It came after Mr Johnson’s article on Saturday, in which he set out a grand vision for Britain’s “glorious” postbrexit future, provoked significant Cabinet splits. Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary who is viewed as a future candidate for the Tory leadership, subsequently accused Mr Johnson of behaving like a “backseat driver” in Brexit negotiations.
Mrs May moved to make clear that she – and not Mr Johnson – is in charge of the Government’s overall policy on withdrawal from the bloc.
Asked if she could “truly” guarantee that she is leading the Brexit process, the Prime Minister said: “This Government is driven from the front and we are all going to the same destination.”
Mrs May failed to answer a direct question of whether she thought Mr Johnson would resign over the row.
She said: “We are all agreed as a Government on the importance of ensuring that we get the right deal for Brexit, the right withdrawal arrangements but also the right deep and special partnership for the EU and the UK in the future.
“We are all optimistic about what we might be achieving as the United Kingdom in the future.”
She also brushed off suggestions that she was “frustrated” with Mr Johnson, adding: “Boris is Boris.”
Mr Johnson’s father, Stanley, said yesterday that the Foreign Secretary would be “happy, happy, happy” to quit over Brexit if he felt it was necessary. Meanwhile, Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary who last year ended Mr Johnson’s leadership ambitions, publically backed the Foreign Secretary’s position on Brexit.
He said: “In the debate on EU contributions it’s important people look at what Boris actually wrote in his Telegraph article – not headlines .
“[The] debate should be forwardlooking on how to make the most of life outside EU – not refighting the referendum.”
Speaking as he attended the UN General Assembly in New York, where he met Donald Trump, Mr Johnson reiterated his support for Mrs May.
He said: “As far as backseat driving honesty there is only one driver in this car and it is Theresa. What I am trying to do is sketch out the incredibly exciting landscape of the destination ahead.”
Mrs May was yesterday asked about Mr Johnson’s controversial claim Britain would “take back control” of £350 million a week that is sent to Brussels.
She stressed that any decision on spending priorities had to be taken by the whole Government.
She said: “By definition if we are curover
rently paying money into the European Union and at a point in the future we won’t be paying that money into the European Union, we will have to decide as a Government how to spend that money and at the time we will look to see where we think it is appropriate and best to spend that money.
“That will be a decision taken at the time, it will be taken by the Government.”
Mrs May was also drawn into an extraordinary row between Mr Johnson and Sir David Norgrove, the head of the UK Statistics Authority, over whether Britain would gain £350 million a week from Brexit.
The statistics watchdog rubbished the claim when it was made by the Vote Leave campaign last year, complaining that rebates and EU subsidies meant the net figure was far lower.
Asked “who she trusted to do sums”, Mrs May appeared to side with Sir David by pointing out that Britain’s net contribution to the EU changed from year to year. She denied that the change in Mr Robbin’s position showed that Brexit negotiations are a “shambles”.
She said: “No, not at all. What it is a sign of is that the negotiations are getting into a more detailed and more intense phase.
“As a result of that I think it’s right that Olly Robbins concentrates on that and obviously a different structure will be put in place in terms of the running of the management of the Department for Exiting the European Union and the permanent secretaryship there.”