Johnson warns of ‘miserable Brexit’
● MPS stick by Prime Minister as former foreign secretary tries to channel Geoffrey Howe in scathing resignation statement
Boris johnson told theresa May she faced being ousted from Downing Street if she persisted with a Brexit strategy he said would leave the UK in a “miserable permanent limbo”. The former foreign secretary cemented his position as the Brexiteers’ alternative leader in a Commons resignation statement yesterday.
Theresa May stood firm in the face of Brexiteers as Boris Johnson put the Prime Minister on notice to scrap a Brexit strategy he claimed would leave the UK in a “miserable permanent limbo”.
Mrs May was given the support of her party after two turbulent weeks, despite the former foreign secretary telling the Commons that her White Paper would deliver “Brexit in name only”.
Tory MPS pledged their loyalty at a meeting of the 1922 Committee yesterday evening, with the senior Brexiteer Jacob Rees-mogg claiming the party was “united” behind the Prime Minister.
Earlier, Mr Johnson sought to cement his position as an alternative Tory leader in a Commons resignation statement that trashed the government’s plan to remain tied to the EU customs union on goods.
At PMQS. the Prime Minister was also put on the spot by one of her MPS, who asked when it was she decided that “Brexit means Remain”.
But Mrs May hit back, telling her critics she was trying to find a “workable” solution to issues with the EU.
In what appeared to be a deliberate bid to invoke history, the former foreign secretary gave his speech from the same position as Geoffrey Howe when he delivered his resignation statement in November 1990, hastening the end of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.
Mr Johnson accused the government of “dithering” and leading the country into a “fog of self-doubt”. He failed to issue a direct challenge to the Prime Minister’s position, but hinted at a possible leadership bid, telling MPS: “It is not too late to save Brexit.” Mr Rees-mogg described it as “the speech of a statesman”.
In his 12-minute statement, Mr Johnson 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.”
Dismissing concerns from Brussels and Dublin over the Irish border, Mr Johnson called on the Prime Minister to return to the “glorious” plans she set out in a speech at Lancaster House last year – “a strong, independent selfgoverning Britain that is genuinely open to the world, not the miserable permanent limbo of Chequers”.
He added: “If the Prime Minister can fix that vision once again before us, then I believe she can deliver a great Brexit for Britain with a positive, self-confident approach that will unite this party, unite this House and unite this country as well.”
Mr Johnson warned that under Mrs May’s proposals, the UK was “volunteering for economic vassalage”, and denounced her customs plan for the Irish border as a “fantastical Heath Robinson” creation.
But his speech appeared to have little immediate impact, with one MP who had submitted a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister publicly withdrawing it at the meeting of the 1922 Committee.
Earlier, at PMQS, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed the government was “failing to negotiate Brexit, failing to meet the needs of the country because they are far too busy fighting each other”.
The SNP’S Westminster leader Ian Blackford told Mrs May she had “lost control of her own party” and was “is in office but not in power”.
Mr Blackford called for the Article 50 process, which sets out the UK’S exit date of 29 March 2019 in law, to be extended for at least six months to allow negotiations to reach a deal.
Giving evidence to the Commons liaison committee, Mrs May said the government would give the public more information about the potential impact of a no deal Brexit over the summer.
Challenged by Tory MP Sarah Wollaston, who suggested the UK was “getting closer to the possibility of no deal”, the Prime Minister said that wasn’t the case but added: “If we are in a no deal scenario then we will lay out the consequences for the public.
“Over August and September we’re going to be releasing a number of technical notifications to set out what UK citizens and businesses need to do in a no-deal scenario.”
“It is not too late to save Brexit. We have time in these negotiations. We have changed tack once and we can change again” BORIS JOHNSON