Boris Johnson’s Remain-supporting father announced he has switched sides to back Brexit today after taking fright at Jean-Claude Juncker’s federalist vision.
Stanley Johnson said a recent speech by the European Commission president convinced him the EU was moving ‘at an ever-increasing speed in a direction we really don’t want to go’.
In the run-up to the referendum, Mr Johnson repeatedly attacked his son’s stance on Brexit, saying staying the bloc was crucial for stopping climate change.
In the run-up to the referendum, Mr Johnson repeatedly attacked his son’s stance on Brexit, saying staying the bloc was crucial for stopping climate change
But the former MEP said he had now come to believe the push in Brussels for much closer integration could not be prevented.
‘For me the critical moment came a couple of weeks ago when EU Commission President Juncker gave his State of the Union address to the European Parliament,’ he wrote on the Brexit Central website.
‘The vision he presented of an EU with a single government, and with directly-elected EU ministers with EU-wide responsibilities, including finance and defence, was quite simply – it seemed to me – totally over the top.’
Mr Johnson said he previously argued that it was better to ‘stay on board and try to seize control of the steering wheel’ by opposing the federalist vision.
But he added: ‘Mr Juncker’s Federal Express is heading down the track at an ever-increasing speed in a direction we really don’t want to go.
‘Even if Britain stayed on board, I doubt if we would be able to change the points on the track ahead, or even slow the train down.’
Mr Johnson said he was still passionate about the environmental and animal welfare, and did not want to see the baby ‘thrown out with the bathwater’ as we leave the EU.
He praised the controversial 4,000 word newspaper article written by the Foreign Secretary last month – in which he triggered speculation about a leadership challenge by making an optimistic case for Brexit.
Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel – a newspaper columnist – revealed earlier this year that she had joined the Lib Dems in a bid to stop us leaving the EU
Mr Johnson’s brother Jo Johnson is also a Conservative minister and backed the Remain campaign in the referendum
‘Boris argued that for 40 years Britain has been trying to nudge the EU towards a different destiny and on the whole we have not had much luck,’ Mr Johnson senior said.
‘The time has come to bail out, he asserted. I agree.
‘We may argue about the length of the transition or ‘implementation’ period but there cannot surely be any longer any doubt what the ‘end-state’must be.’
Despite the defection by his father, Mr Johnson still faces an uphill battle to win over the rest of his family.
His sister Rachel – a newspaper columnist – revealed earlier this year that she had joined the Lib Dems in a bid to stop us leaving the EU.
Brother Jo Johnson is also a Conservative minister and backed the Remain campaign.