Boris Johnson hints at defeat in Cabinet row over EU transition
2 min read
Boris Johnson appeared to raise the white flag last night in his bitter row with Theresa May over the course Britain should take as it quits the EU.
The Foreign Secretary suggested he would not protest a transition deal with similar terms to existing EU membership – just days after agitating against just that.
It is the latest development in the long-running saga between Mr Johnson and the Prime Minister which has left her authority severely undermined and angered many fellow Tories.
Just last week Mr Johnson laid out a set of so-called ‘red lines’ for the transition period and highlighted Mrs May’s plan for the UK to operate under “existing rules”.
But last night he insisted the Cabinet was “united” behind the speech the Prime Minister made in Florence laying out her hopes for a transitional deal.
Asked on Newsnight whether he would be “loyal” in his speech to the Conservative party conference in Manchester on Tuesday, he suggested he would.
"Contrary to some of the stuff that I notice has been knocking around in the media, you have a Cabinet that is totally united behind every comma, every full stop, every syllable of the Prime Minister's excellent Florence speech,” he said.
"That's the agenda that we're going to deliver and we're going to deliver a great Brexit for this country."
Mr Johnson has angered colleagues by repeatedly challenging Mrs May in what has increasingly been identified as a pitch for the Tory leadership.
Yesterday he faced veiled rebukes from Chancellor Philip Hammond, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, among others.
Referring to the Brexit row, a senior minister told the Times: “Boris is almost alone on this. Priti Patel has gone silent, Chris Grayling is pragmatic and Michael Gove seems sensible. There is no obvious groundswell of support.”
And Tory grandee William Hague – in his column for the Daily Telegraph – said there was “a hunger for the necessary unity” including from the Foreign Secretary.
Allies of Mrs May told the Times she had ruled out sacking the Foreign Secretary, but added: “There are better ways to cause someone misery.”
DAVID DAVIS 'TO RESIGN AFTER BREXIT'
Elsewhere, the Daily Telegraph said Brexit Secretary David Davis was planning to stand down at the end of negotiations in 2019 to allow others to oversee the interim deal.
But a source close to the Cabinet minister reportedly dismissed the claims, adding: “This was a lighthearted remark underlining the fact that we will be leaving the EU in March 2019.”
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