The Foreign Secretary published a 4,000-word essay setting out his personal manifesto for Brexit
Boris Johnson threw down the gauntlet to Theresa May over Brexit last night, as he warned her against giving in to Remainers in the Cabinet.
In an extraordinary intervention, that will reignite speculation about his leadership ambitions, the Foreign Secretary published a 4,000-word essay setting out his personal manifesto for Brexit.
The move comes just days before Mrs May is due to make a pivotal speech on the issue and will be seen as an attempt to box her in.
Mr Johnson, who is angry at claims he lied during the referendum campaign, says the UK will claw back control of £350 million a week after leaving the EU, which could be spent on the NHS.
And, in an ominous move, he flatly rejects calls for Britain to pay billions for access to the single market during any transition period after Brexit – an idea being considered by Mrs May for inclusion in her speech next week.
Some ministers, including the Chancellor Philip Hammond, believe the payments could break the deadlock in the Brexit negotiations and kickstart talks on a new trade deal.
But Mr Johnson writes: ‘We would not expect to pay for access to their markets any more than they would expect to pay for access to our.’
And he says that ongoing membership of the single market and customs union would make a ‘complete mockery’ of the referendum.
Downing Street had banned Mr Johnson from making a speech on Brexit until after Mrs May had delivered hers.
His essay, which was published in the Daily Telegraph, was not cleared with No 10 and was sent to the PM’s office only shortly before it was published.
The move comes just days before Mrs May is due to make a pivotal speech on the issue and will be seen as an attempt to box her in
It comes amid mounting concern in Downing Street that Mr Johnson could resign if Mrs May tries to go soft on Brexit.
The Foreign Secretary is said to be wounded by claims that he lied during last year’s referendum campaign and frustrated at continued attempts to sideline him.
He is also said to have been angered by briefings this month suggesting he would be demoted in the next Cabinet reshuffle.
In July Mr Johnson was forced to deny rumours sweeping Westminster that he was on the verge of quitting.
One Tory source said this week that he was ‘so low’ he had been put on ‘resignation watch’ by No 10.
The resignation of Mr Johnson would destabilise Mrs May’s fragile government and set off a chain of events that could force her from office.
One friend insisted he was not considering quitting, but hinted at tensions with No 10.
‘I think he is clear that if he’s pushed he will push back on policy and on (cabinet) jobs. But it is all about staying in government, not walking away,’ the friend said.
Mr Johnson uses his article to set out an upbeat vision for a ‘glorious’ post-Brexit future as a low-tax, low regulation economy freed from the shackles of Brussels.
It comes amid mounting concern in Downing Street that Mr Johnson could resign if Mrs May – pictured with Donald Trump at the White House in January – tries to go soft on Brexit
He insists that Britain can be ‘the greatest country on earth’ and rounds on so-called Remoaners ‘who think we are going to bottle it’.
He also accuses Labour of ‘chickening out’ of Brexit after voting against the EU Withdrawal Bill and backing single market membership in the short term.
On his controversial £350 million a week claim, he writes: ‘Once we have settled our accounts, we will take back control of roughly £350m per week.
“It would be a fine thing, as many of us have pointed out, if a lot of that money went on the NHS, provided we use that cash injection to modernise and make the most of new technology.”
He says that opponents, including the ‘the government, the BBC, Barack Obama, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the CBI’ tried to prevent Brexit and are now ‘woefully underestimating this country’.
Mr Johnson calls for Britain to ‘keep environmental and social protections that are fair and wise’, but saysEU red tape costing anything between 4 and 7 per cent of GDP should be ditched.
Mr Johnson, who has clashed repeatedly with the Chancellor, says Brexit should be used as an opportunity ‘reform our tax system’.
‘Outside the EU there are obvious opportunities… in the setting of indirect taxation,’ he writes. ‘At the stroke of a pen, the Chancellor will be able to cut VAT on tampons; often demanded by parliament but – absurdly – legally impossible to deliver.’
Downing Street last night attempted to play down the row.
A source said: ‘Boris’s views on Brexit are well known. As you’ll see in the PM’s speech next week, the Governmenbt is united in our determination to make the most of the opportiunities for a successful future.
Foreign secretary’s ‘hand grenade’ into Prime Minister’s plans
It will also be seen by the Prime Minister’s allies as a naked act of betrayal that could destabilise her fragile government at a time when it was finding its feet
By Jason Groves
Boris Johnson’s intervention throws a hand grenade into Theresa May’s plans to ‘reset’ the Brexit negotiations next week.
It will also be seen by the Prime Minister’s allies as a naked act of betrayal that could destabilise her fragile government at a time when it was finding its feet.
Downing Street has spent the summer planning the Prime Minister’s first big Brexit speech for 12 months, right down to organising a venue in Florence designed to underline her theme that leaving the EU can lead to a renaissance.
The speech was meant to break the deadlock in the Brexit negotiations in the hope of kick-starting talks on a new trade deal next month.
Now it will inevitably be seen through the prism of her tense relations with Mr Johnson. Every line will be compared to see whether it matches the thoughts of her ambitious Foreign Secretary.
Government spin doctors can – just about – claim that the contents of the 4,000-word essay are in line with government policy.
But they are not necessarily in line with Mrs May’s latest thinking. If she had planned to break new ground next week on issues like the Brexit divorce bill, she now finds herself boxed in.
Allies of Mr Johnson will say No 10 only has itself to blame after treating him shabbily.
Mrs May has been happy to sideline and, on occasions, even humiliate her Foreign Secretary. And, extraordinarily, she has refused him any role in the biggest foreign policy issue for decades.
Mr Johnson has also been stung by claims that he lied during the referendum campaign and believes passionately that Remainers in the Cabinet, such as the Chancellor Philip Hammond, will wreck Brexit if they are allowed to water it down too much.
Refused permission to speak out, he has now done it anyway.
Downing Street had feared Mr Johnson was so disillusioned he might quit, potentially bringing down the Government with him.
Now he has effectively dared Mrs May to back him or sack him. The ball is in her court.