Johnson refuses to rule out standing for Tory leadership
BORIS Johnson has refused to rule out standing against Theresa May for the Tory leadership as he warned that her Brexit deal left the UK open to “blackmail” by Brussels.
The former foreign secretary said it was “nonsense” to suggest he had already begun offering jobs in a future Johnson administration to fellow Tories, but sidestepped the opportunity to promise not to stand against the Prime Minister.
He said her Brexit deal could get through the Commons if it was stripped of the backstop — an insurance policy to prevent a hard border with the Irish Republic — insisting that would be “relatively simple” to achieve.
Another Brexiteer, ex-Cabinet minister Esther McVey, said she would give “serious concern” to standing for the leadership.
Mr Johnson, one of the leading players in the Leave campaign in the referendum, said people should not “underestimate the deep sense of personal responsibility I feel for Brexit”.
Mrs May’s future hangs in the balance, with a heavy defeat in tomorrow’s Commons showdown likely to lead to fresh pressure on her leadership.
Asked to give an “absolute, categorical promise” that he would not stand against the Prime Minister, Mr Johnson said: “I will give you an absolute, categorical promise that I will continue to advocate what I think is the most sensible plan.”
Challenged on whether he had already begun speaking to colleagues to offer them roles in his future government, Mr Johnson told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “I can tell you that’s nonsense.”
Setting out his Brexit plan, Mr Johnson said resolving the Irish border issue should be postponed so it forms part of the talks on a future trade deal and the UK should withhold a “substantial chunk” of the £39bn divorce bill until that deal is done.
Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab also refused to rule out a leadership bid, telling Sky News he would not “get sucked into that debate”.
He also said that during negotiations with the EU, senior figures implied losing Northern Ireland was the price the UK would pay for Brexit.
Mr Raab said he had been surprised at the EU’s attitude towards the province and the view it could “carve up” the UK.
He said it had come from “people around” the head of the EU’s civil service Martin Selmayr.
Mr Raab served as Brexit secretary for four and a half months, taking over David Davis, before resigning last month in protest at Mrs May’s deal with Brussels.
“You would hear swirling around in Brussels — particularly the people around Selmayr, Martin Selmayr in the Commission, and some others — that losing Northern Ireland was the price the UK would pay for Brexit,” said Mr Raab.
“This was reported to me through the diplomatic channel.
“It is one thing to defend your interests robustly, but there is another thing in the spirit of socalled European unity to be trying to carve up a major European nation.”
A controversial figure, Martin Selmayr has been the Secretary-General of the European Commission since March of this year.