PM asserts authority on Brexit after row over article
ASSEMBLY: BORIS MEETS TRUMP BUT MAY INSISTS SHE IS IN DRIVING SEAT
BORIS JOHNSON may have been meeting American President Domald Trump but Theresa May let it be known that she is in charge of Britain’s Brexit strategy.
Mr Johnson was in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly where he shook hands with Mr Trump.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was in Ottawa to meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Her visit came days after her Foreign Secretary had been accused of trying to be a “back seat driver” in the Brexit negotiations. But Mrs May insisted the Government was being “driven from the front” in the Brexit talks.
Her comments came after Mr Johnson’s 4,000-word newspaper article at the weekend prompted accusations of disloyalty ahead of the Prime Minister’s keynote speech in Florence on Friday.
The Prime Minister echoed the hopes of Mr Trudeau after talks in Ottawa when she forecast a ‘seamless transition’ to a new trading arrangement between the UK and Canada.
Mrs May’s one-day visit takes place before a new trade deal between the EU and Canada comes into effect on Thursday.
BORIS JOHNSON has insisted that there can be no extended transition period after Britain leaves the EU.
Attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Foreign Secretary denied he was trying to be a “back seat driver” in the Brexit negotiations.
However, he was adamant that the UK should not be making “extortionate” payments to the EU once it has withdrawn. He sidestepped questions as to whether he would resign if he did not get his way, saying: “You are barking slightly up the wrong tree here.”
Earlier, Theresa May sought to stamp her authority on her Cabinet colleagues, insisting the Government was being “driven from the front” in the Brexit negotiations.
Her comments came after Mr Johnson’s 4,000-word newspaper article at the weekend prompted accusations he was trying to act as a “back seat driver” ahead of the Prime Minister’s keynote speech in Florence on Friday.
“This Government is driven from the front and we are all going to the same destination, because we are all agreed on the basis of the Lancaster House speech,” she told reporters on her flight to Canada for talks with prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“We are all agreed as a Government about the importance of ensuring the right deal for Britain, the right withdrawal agreement, but also the right deal on a special partnership between the EU and UK for the future.”
Mr Johnson said he accepted that Mrs May – who flies on to the UN meeting in New York today – was in charge of the Brexit negotiations.
“There is one driver in this car. It’s Theresa. What I am trying to do is sketch out what I think is the incredible exciting landscape of the destination ahead,” he said.
However, he reiterated two of the key points in his article for
The Daily Telegraph – that the UK should not have to pay for access to EU markets and that any postBrexit transitional arrangements should be time-limited.
“It is pretty important that it shouldn’t be too long,” he said. “The Prime Minister has already said we don’t want to be paying extortionate sums to the EU after we leave.
“We certainly don’t want to be paying in extortionate sums for access to the single market. They wouldn’t pay for access to our market.”
There had been speculation Mrs May will use her speech to set out proposals for a compromise with Brussels on the UK’s “divorce bill” – allowing the talks to move on to negotiating a free trade deal.
Mr Johnson’s intervention had been seen to reflect concern he had been frozen out of the discussions. However, the Foreign Secretary – who was warmly welcomed in New York by US President Donald Trump – sought to play down reports he was at odds with ministers such as Chancellor Philip Hammond and Brexit Secretary David Davis.
He described his article as an “opening drum roll” for the Prime Minister’s speech.
“Let’s not try and find rows when there really aren’t rows,” he said.
“I was involved in that Brexit campaign quite a lot. People want to know where we are going. I think it is a good thing to have a bit of an opening drum roll about what this country can do.”
When she spoke to reporters, Mrs May notably did not rally to Mr Johnson’s defence in his row with the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority.
Sir David Norgrove accused the Foreign Secretary of a “clear misuse” of figures after he revived the claim that Brexit will give the UK control of £350m a week. Asked whether she trusted Sir David or her Foreign Secretary to be right, Mrs May said only: “The reality is that year on year, the money the UK pays into the European Union changes because of a whole variety of factors.”