Cabinet split? We’re a nest of singing birds, insists placated Boris
Foreign Secretary is now expected to back PM as she makes critical speech in Florence
AS BORIS JOHNSON returned to his hotel after a jog on the streets of New York City yesterday morning, he found himself confronted by broadcasters with one burning question – could he resign over Brexit?
“No,” Mr Johnson responded, before cheerily describing the Cabinet as a “nest of singing birds”.
Behind the scenes, however, there has been significantly less harmony since Mr Johnson’s unauthorised 4,200-word article in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday. The article was viewed by many of Mr Johnson’s allies as setting down a marker for Theresa May ahead of her landmark Brexit speech in Florence on Friday, prompting fevered speculation that he could resign over Brexit.
Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers had become increasingly concerned that the Prime Minister was preparing to announce plans for what would effectively amount to a soft Brexit.
They feared she had been persuaded by Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, to adopt a Swiss-style model for Britain’s post-brexit future. For Eurosceptics this would represent a disaster – the UK would continue to pay into the EU Budget and accept a significant degree of free movement in exchange for access to the Single Market.
The chances of Britain forging a “glorious” future for itself with new trade deals would be significantly diminished. Mr Johnson himself added to speculation yesterday night by suggesting he was contemplating life after politics. “When the burden of office is lifted from my shoulders I will, of course, look back with great pride on doing all sorts of things,” he said.
Kenneth Clarke, the former Tory Chancellor and pro-european, yesterday morning launched a full-frontal attack on Mr Johnson by suggesting that Mrs May would have sacked him but was too weak to do so.
“Sounding off personally in this way is totally unhelpful and he shouldn’t exploit the fact that [Theresa May] hasn’t got a majority in parliament,” he told Today on Radio 4.
“And he knows perfectly well that, normally, a foreign secretary would be sacked instantly for doing that.”
Hours later The Telegraph disclosed that Mr Johnson was so concerned by the prospect of a Swiss-style deal that he could resign. A key ally of the Foreign Secretary said that he “could not live with” such an arrangement.
The story broke as Mr Johnson and Mrs May were both in New York for the UN General Assembly.
Despite staying in the same hotel, however, Downing Street said that they were not due to meet, triggering suggestions that Mr Johnson was being “frozen out” by Mrs May, who flew in from a meeting with Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, in Ottawa.
Mr Johnson was not initially expected to join Mrs May at a reception for the Commonwealth despite the fact he is the minister in charge of the Foreign and Commonwealth office.
However it later emerged that he was attending the event.
Asked if the pair were being “kept apart on purpose”, Mrs May’s official spokesman said: “These are incredibly busy events. It is all about meeting as many people as possible and explaining the UK’S priorities.”
By yesterday afternoon, The Daily Telegraph understands that behind the scenes Mrs May has made peace with Mr Johnson. He has received assurances that the Government will not push for a Swiss-style trade deal after Brexit, and that Mrs May has ruled out making substantial payments for access to the Single Market after Brexit.
In public Mrs May said that she expects Mr Johnson to remain as her Foreign Secretary ahead of a critical Cabinet meeting on Thursday, in which she will seek a consensus among her ministers for her Florence speech.
Asked whether she was confident that ministers would be united behind her strategy, Mrs May told Sky News: “Yes, the Cabinet is absolutely clear about the destination we are aiming for in relation to our European negotiations.”
Challenged over calls for Mr Johnson to face the sack, she said: “Boris is doing good work as Foreign Secretary. He has been doing that here at the United Nations.” Mr Johnson is now expected to flank Mrs May as she delivers her speech in Florence. Senior eurosceptics believe that Mrs May will, however, still have a fight on her hands over Britain’s future trading relationship with the EU.
A Cabinet source said: “There was no way – given the strength of opposition – that she could announce the Swissmodel on Friday. She’ll have to fudge it, but it’s a decision she’ll have to make sooner or later. Who’s vision of Brexit