BORIS AND IDS: NOW WE’LL BACK HER DEAL
‘General feeling of regret’
BORIS Johnson last night led a string of Brexiteers who swiftly announced they would swing behind Theresa May’s deal after her pledge to stand down.
In a remarkable U-turn, the former foreign secretary told a meeting of the European Research Group (ERG) he would now back an agreement he once described as a ‘suicide vest around Britain’.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith also said he would support the deal, as the trickle of so-called switchers looked as though it might turn into a flood.
Explaining his decision, Mr Johnson said he was ‘very, very sorry’ he changed his mind, ‘but in the end the thing I fought for may never happen’. ‘I genuinely think the House of Commons is going to steal Brexit,’ he told the Daily Telegraph. ‘I have done this on behalf of the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit.
‘I feel very, very sorry and though it fills me with pain, I’m going to have to support this thing.
‘Sometimes you just have to make a judgment. We have got to get this thing over the line.
‘You can hang on and be pure but in the end the thing I fought for may never happen.’
Ex-defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon, meanwhile, said he would back the deal if the DUP did.
He said: ‘If Northern Ireland is to be treated so differently, it is important that their MPs no longer object to the terms.’ Some 25 Tory rebels are said to have changed their minds to back Mrs May’s deal. Last night, former culture secretary John Whittingdale said he would support it.
Sources maintained there was ‘no way’ there were enough switchers to get the deal passed, with an irreconcilable core of about 30 Tory MPs still refusing to back it. Many of those still trying to make up their minds had called for Mrs May to announce her departure in order to get them to vote for the deal.
Mr Johnson and Mr Duncan Smith made their announcements at the ERG meeting, which came straight after the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs at which Mrs May made clear she would stand down if her deal passes.
Mr Johnson, who quit as foreign secretary over Mrs May’s original deal, once described the current plan as ‘a suicide vest around Britain’ in a newspaper article.
Mr Duncan Smith has long been hostile to the deal, but has held regular meetings with Mrs May.
Brexiteer Shailesh Vara said Mr Johnson had told the ERG meeting he had ‘reluctantly’ decided to support Mrs May’s agreement.
‘There was a general feeling of regret in the room that we are where we are,’ he said, adding that he would back the deal. But some reacted angrily, with ERG deputy Steve Baker storming out.
At the last meaningful vote, Mrs May lost by a majority of 149, which included 75 Tory rebels and ten DUP MPs. To win the next, she will need the support of the DUP and about the same amount of Labour votes as there are Tory rebels.
It came after the leader of the ERG Jacob Rees-Mogg said he would back the deal if the DUP came onside.
Last night, even Brexit hardliner Sir Bill Cash was said to be ready to back the deal if the DUP were won over.
Other ERG members including Pauline Latham, Conor Burns and Charlie Elphicke said they would support it, while Simon Clarke, Tom Pursglove and Ross Thomson were said to be considering it.
Former Brexit minister Suella Braverman, who quit over the deal, also said she was thinking about backing it. But others remained quiet. Former Brexit secretary and Tory leadership hopeful Dominic Raab gave no comment on his intentions.