Boris Johnson launched an excoriating attack on Theresa May’s ‘dithering’ Brexit strategy today in his first Commons speech since quitting.
The former foreign secretary exploded back into the political fray by lambasting her ‘miserable’ strategy as the Prime Minister struggles to contain open warfare in the Tory party.
He complained that a ‘fog of self doubt’ had descended on the government after Mrs May’s landmark Lancaster House speech on Brexit last year, and she had allowed negotiations with the EU to be dictated by questions about the Irish border.
In a devastating assault, Mr Johnson accused the PM of misleading voters about her intentions and putting the UK ‘in limbo’ with the Chequers plan she forced through Cabinet.
Making a clear pitch for the top job without directly calling for Mrs May to quit, he added: ‘It is not too late to save Brexit.’
The searing assessment could throw Mrs May back into turmoil just as she was hoping to limp into the summer parliamentary break.
Boris Johnson exploded back into the political fray as the Prime Minister struggles to contain open warfare in the Tory party
Mr Johnson was flanked by key Brexiteers on the famous green benches, including Iain Duncan Smith, Edward Leigh, Conor Burns, Nadine Dorries and Ben Bradley
Mr Johnson triggered chaos in the government on Monday last week when he resigned days after the summit at the PM’s country residence.
Allies of the premier have been braced for him to make a bid to oust her – although sources close to the MP have stressed he will not make a ‘personal’ assault.
Mrs May was not in the chamber for Mr Johnson’s statement, as she was running the gauntlet of a grilling by senior MPs on the Liaison Committee.
She is also facing a showdown with restive Tory backbenchers at a private meeting at parliament tonight.
As Mr Johnson delivered his searing resignation statement, Theresa May was giving evidence to the Liaison Committee in a different part of parliament
Mr Johnson said a ‘fog of self doubt’ had descended on Mrs May since her Lancaster House speech last year
Mr Johnson was flanked by former aide Conor Burns on the famous green benches, as well as Brexiteers Nadine Dorries and Ben Bradley. David Davis, who also resigned last week, was also nearby.
‘The result of accepting the EU’s rule books and of our proposals for a fantastical ‘Heath Robinson’ customs arrangement is that we have much less scope for trade agreements,’ he said.
Mr Johnson accused the PM of ‘saying one thing to the EU.. and another thing to the electorate’.
‘It’s not too late to save Brexit. We have changed tack once in these negotiations, and we can change tack again.’
In a rallying cry to Eurosceptics, Mr Johnson said that Mrs May had not even attempted to take a tough line with the EU.
‘We never actually turned that vision into a negotiating position in Brussels and we never made it into a negotiating offer.
‘Instead we dithered and we burned through our negotiating capital. We agreed to hand over a £40billion exit fee with no discussion of our future economic relationship.’
He said despite what some former Cabinet colleagues thought it was not possible to do a ‘botched treaty now’ and then ‘break and reset the bone later on’.
‘We haven’t even tried. We must try now because we will not get another chance to get it right,’ Mr Johnson added.
Mr Johnson said the Chequers deal would leave Britain in ‘limbo’ and the government must ‘believe’ in the country.
He told the Commons: ‘We are volunteering for economic vassalage.’
Mr Johnson insisted that checks away from the Northern Irish border and technical solutions were possible.
He cited concerns raised by himself and former Brexit secretary David Davis, saying: ‘When I and other colleagues… proposed further technical solutions to make customs and regulatory checks remotely, those proposals were never properly examined, as if such solutions had become intellectually undesirable in the context of the argument.’
Mr Johnson said: ‘We need to take one decision now before all others and that is to believe in this country and what it can do.’
Mr Johnson said it became ‘taboo to even discuss technical fixes’ regarding the Irish border.
He added: ‘After 18 months of stealthy retreat we have come from the bright certainties of Lancaster House to the Chequers agreement.’
Mr Johnson’s speech was careful to avoid directly calling for Mrs May to quit – but insisted she had to change course to deliver a clean Brexit
Mr Johnson said Britain should be ‘great independent actors’ on the world stage, not ‘rule takers’.
‘That was the vision of Brexit that we fought for,’ he said.
‘That was the vision that the Prime Minister rightly described last year.
‘That is the prize that is still attainable. There is time. And, if the Prime Minister can fix that vision once again before us, then I believe she can deliver a great Brexit for Britain with a positive, self-confident approach that will unite this party, unite this House and unite this country as well.’
Earlier, Mrs May was goaded at PMQs by Conservative backbencher Andrea Jenkyns who demanded to know when she had decided that ‘Brexit means Remain’.
But amid jeers in the Commons a clearly frustrated Mrs May hit back that she was still committed to leaving the EU and wanted a ‘workable’ solution.
The clashes, at a raucous last questions session before the summer recess, came after Mrs May narrowly fended off a potentially existential challenge to her negotiating strategy last night.
Amid dramatic scenes at Westminster last night, a dozen Conservative Remainers defied warnings they would collapse the Government by siding with Jeremy Corbyn to demand Britain stays in the EU customs union.
Mrs May has repeatedly insisted that the UK must not be in a customs union, as it would prevent trade deals being struck elsewhere.
But rebels ignored warnings from Tory chief whip Julian Smith that defeat would prompt him to call a vote of confidence in Mrs May today, followed by a possible general election.
Tory insiders said another ten Eurosceptic MPs would have sent in letters of no confidence in Mrs May if she had lost last night’s vote – potentially pushing the total over the 48 needed to spark a leadership challenge.
Rebels inflicted an early defeat on the Government when they voted to keep Britain tied into the European Medicines Agency after Brexit by 305 votes to 301.
But, minutes later, the tables were reversed as MPs voted by 307 to 301 to reject an amendment to the Trade Bill ordering the PM to pursue a continuation of the customs union.
Five Labour MPs voted with the Government: former ministers Frank Field and Kate Hoey and backbenchers John Mann, Graham Stringer and Kelvin Hopkins, who is currently sitting as an independent following suspension. If they had voted the other way, the Government would have lost by four votes.
At PMQs at lunchtime, Mrs May was goaded by backbencher Andrea Jenkyns over when she decided that ‘Brexit means Remain’
Brexiteer Ms Jenkyns has become a thorn in the side of the PM, calling her premiership ‘over’
Mr Johnson triggered chaos in the government on Monday last week when he resigned days after Mrs May forced her Chequers Brexit plan through Cabinet.
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson was in the chamber for PMQs earlier – positioned close to the seat where Geoffrey Howe delivered his famous attack on Margaret Thatcher after quitting as chancellor in 1990
Attacking her leader at PMQs, Ms Jenkyns – who has already urged Mrs May to quit – asked: ‘Could the Prime Minister inform the House at what point it was decided that Brexit means Remain?’
Mrs May insisted that her mantra of ‘Brexit means Brexit’ still stood.
‘At absolutely no point, because Brexit continues to mean Brexit,’ she replied.
‘And if I can say to her, I know she wants us to talk about the positives of Brexit and I agree with her.
‘We should be talking about the positive future for this country. I understand she’s also criticised me for looking for a solution that is workable.
Mr Johnson was in the chamber for PMQs, positioned close to the seat where Geoffrey Howe delivered his famous attack on Margaret Thatcher after quitting as chancellor in 1990.