Boris Johnson takes another swipe at Chequers deal on conference eve
Boris Johnson has refused to rule out a leadership challenge to Theresa May as he took another swipe at her Chequers plan on the eve of the Conservative Party Conference.
The former foreign secretary said the Prime Minister was “a remarkable person” who will “go on for as long as she feels it necessary” in an interview with BBC News.
It came after he used a 4,500word newspaper column yesterday to issue a blistering attack on her Brexit strategy ahead of the party’s annual gathering, which starts in Birmingham tomorrow.
Mr Johnson also refused to rule out voting against a deal based on Chequers in Parliament. And he made a thinlyveiled jibe at Michael Gove, saying the idea of settling for a Chequers-type deal now that could be altered later as suggested last week by the Environment Secretary was “complete pie in the sky”.
Mr Johnson, who is due to give a speech to the conference on Tuesday, was asked repeatedly by the BBC to rule out running against Mrs May.
He said: “She’s a remarkable person, she will go on for as long as she feels it necessary.
“But the most important thing for me is to avert what I think would be a political and economic disaster for this country, which is to agree to come out of the EU, but still to be run by the EU. What is the point of that? What will we have done?”