Boris faces Tory backlash
Boris Johnson faced a backlash among fellow Conservatives over his claim that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit strategy had put the UK in a “suicide vest” and handed the detonator to Brussels. One senior minister said the comments marked the “political end” of the former foreign secretary.
Boris Johnson has faced a backlash among fellow Conservatives over his claim that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit strategy had put the UK in a “suicide vest” and handed the detonator to Brussels.
One senior minister said the comments marked the “political end” of the former foreign secretary, while Cabinet ministers criticised his incendiary language.
Mr Johnson launched the attack amid further focus on his private life after he announced he and his wife, lawyer Marina Wheeler, are divorcing.
The prominent Brexiteer’s latest assault on Mrs May’s handling of negotiations with Brussels fuelled speculation about his own leadership ambitions.
Mr Johnson quit the Cabinet over Mrs May’s Chequers plan which would see the UK remain closely aligned with EU rules on goods.
Writing in a Sunday newspaper, he said: “It is a humiliation. We look like a sevenstone weakling being comically bent out of shape by a 500lb gorilla.”
He also lashed out at the Northern Ireland “backstop” – the measure aimed at making sure there is no hard border with Ireland. Under the EU’S version of the plan, if no trade deal with the UK resolved the issue, Northern Ireland would
effectively remain part of the single market.
Mr Johnson said: “We have opened ourselves to perpetual political blackmail. We have wrapped a suicide vest around the British constitution – and handed the detonator to Michel Barnier.
“We have given him a jemmy with which Brussels can choose – at any time – to crack apart the union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”
Home Secretary Sajid Javid rebuked his former Cabinet colleague, saying: “I think there are much better ways to articulate your differences.”
Sir Alan Duncan, Mr Johnson’s former deputy at the Foreign Office, said: “This marks one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics. I’m sorry, but this is the political end of Boris Johnson. If it isn’t now, I will make sure it is later.”