Boris Johnson hints he could back Theresa May's Brexit deal rather than risk not leaving EU 'at all'
4 min read
Brexiteers may have to back Theresa May's "lamentable" EU deal or run the risk of not leaving the bloc at all, Boris Johnson has said.
In a hint that he could he could get behind an agreement he has spent months criticising, the ex-Foreign Secretary said he could "see the point of view" of Conservative eurosceptics who were coming around to the Prime Minister's deal.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Telegraph, he said: "If we vote it down again there is an appreciable and growing sense that we will not leave at all. That is the risk."
But the Tory heavyweight - who was reportedly heckled by Brexit supporters in the crowd - said he was "not there yet" on backing the agreement.
And he hinted that he wants Mrs May to spell out plans to step down in exchange for his backing, telling ITV News: "What I want to hear is if this Withdrawal Agreement is to make any sense at all, then there's got to be a massive change in the UK's negotiating approach."
The intervention came as MPs prepare to vote on a host of Brexit alternatives after seizing control of Commons business.
A total of 16 different options have been tabled by MPs, and Speaker John Bercow will select which ones will be debated and voted on on Wednesday evening.
But the move has sparked fear among some eurosceptics that Parliament could force a softer form of Brexit on the Government.
Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg urged his Conservative colleagues to get behind Mrs May's deal if the DUP - who have so far remained firm in their opposition to the plan - shift position, in a bid to avoid Parliament scuppering Brexit.
"I have come to this view because the numbers in Parliament make it clear that all the other potential outcomes are worse and an awkward reality needs to be faced," he wrote in the Daily Mail.
Fellow Brexiteer Michael Fabricant - who has twice voted against the Prime Minister's EU agreement - also made clear that he was now ready to back it.
Writing in The Telegraph, the Lichfield MP said he had told fellow members of the European Research Group that he "must now reluctantly vote with my head and no longer with my heart".
"I explained that if the Withdrawal Agreement is not passed on Thursday or early next week, our Remainer Parliament will seize control and destroy Brexit," he said. "And there will be no Oliver Cromwell to save us from them this time."
However, there is still little sign of the DUP coming on board, with the party's Brexit spokesman, Sammy Wilson, claiming on Tuesday that the party would rather see a year-long extension to the whole process rather than vote for it.
'QUESTION ON EVERYONE'S LIPS'
Mrs May will on Wednesday night face Tory MPs at a crucial meeting of the 1922 committee, amid reports that she will be urged to set out her plans to quit as Prime Minister.
According to The Sun, 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady held a one-on-one meeting with Mrs May in Downing Street in which he told her that MPs want her to reveal an exit date before the summer.
Allies of Mr Brady told the paper: "The PM knows the first question on everyone’s lips tomorrow. It would be strange for her not to have an answer to it."
Conservative MP Nigel Evans meanwhile said: "It would be really advisable if she set out a timetable for her departure in order that she can focus minds to get something agreeable over the line. It would then allow her to look at her legacy and say to the country ‘I delivered on Brexit’."
However, one female minister told PoliticsHome there was a "whiff of misogyny" about male Tories urging Mrs May to quit.
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