Boris Johnson is preparing to pay Brussels billions of pounds to ease the pain of a No Deal Brexit, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Sources within Mr Johnson’s team have told Mail on Sunday that the Conservative leadership frontrunner would make a ‘bold and credible offer’ to Brussels to suspend a ‘cliff-edge’ exit if fresh talks broke down ahead of the October 31 deadline.
Allies of Mr Johnson say that, under the plan, if he had failed to secure a new deal which was supported by the Commons, the EU would still announce that the UK had formally left by October 31, but in return for ‘a sizeable chunk’ of our £39 billion divorce settlement, it would allow current trade and transport links to continue until December 2021.
That would allow the new Prime Minister to claim that he had not reneged on his promise to deliver Brexit by the deadline, but would spare him the potential constitutional and logistical chaos of a No Deal scenario.
Sources within Mr Johnson’s team have told Mail on Sunday that the Conservative leadership frontrunner would make a ‘bold and credible offer’ to Brussels to suspend a ‘cliff-edge’ exit if fresh talks broke down ahead of the October 31 deadline
The time could also be used to try to forge a new trading relationship with the EU.
Mr Johnson was last week forced to admit his ‘standstill’ Brexit plan under Article 24 of World Trade Organisation rules could not be implemented unilaterally by Britain. The rules state that trading partners ‘may protract their existing arrangements until such time as they have completed the new free trade agreement’ but consent is required from both sides.
Now allies of Mr Johnson are hoping the financial lure of the £39 billion divorce cash will seduce the EU into such an agreement – but it risks a major row as he has been one of the most vocal critics of the financial settlement agreed by Theresa May.
Mr Johnson has also pledged to use that money to help mitigate the effects of a No Deal exit as well as honour expensive pledges to increase police and schools funding.
He told a membership hustings in York on Thursday: ‘It may have escaped your notice, but in the event of a No Deal Brexit, we will have an additional £39 billion to spend.’
He added: ‘There would be extra funds available from the £39 billion … that we’ll be able to spend looking after farmers, looking after a whole range of sectors.’
Mr Johnson’s allies are also hoping to use the prospect of a ‘workable if undesirable No Deal’ to achieve their ‘Plan A’ of convincing Brussels to relent on a time limit for the hated Northern Irish ‘backstop’. They believe that would break the Commons deadlock.
However the ‘transition team’ preparing him for power, including Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, Brexit stalwart Iain Duncan Smith and Health Secretary Matt Hancock, are split on whether the WTO standstill plan would realistically work in a No Deal scenario since it would not fully resolve the Northern Ireland headache.
Some insiders see it as ‘a clever way’ to bring Brussels to the table but ‘dubious in law’.
Despite this, Mr Johnson is being urged to announce to Brussels that, in a No Deal scenario under Article 21 of the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), Britain can avoid putting up a border on the island of Ireland as it would be ‘contrary to national security’.
Allies of Mr Johnson (pictured in Wales, ahead of the Tory hustings in Cardiff) say that, under the plan, if he had failed to secure a new deal, the EU would still announce that the UK had formally left by October 31, but in return for ‘a sizeable chunk’ of our £39 billion divorce bill
One source said: ‘It would be a clever way of making things very uncomfortable for Brussels. We have the ability under GATT 21 to simply say no border. The pressure would then be on Dublin to explain what they are going to do about it.’
Another member of Mr Johnson’s team insisted GATT was ‘one way to mitigate some of the problems of a No Deal – it will certainly put the EU on the back foot.’
However, other insiders insisted that efforts to rely on GATT rules were doomed.
A source warned: ‘GATT is not universally accepted internally as a solution, or even as being workable, but it works well with those who believe it does.’ Others have described the plan as ‘party management’ to keep Brexiteers on board. One MP said: ‘We are currently in a moment of classic Johnson campaign confusion – it keeps a whole lot of people on side and enables him to say different things to different people.’
By showing support for the plan, Mr Johnson has seen off a ‘wobble’ by hard Brexit supporters in the Tory Party, including European Reform Group ringleader and MP for Wycombe Steve Baker.
Last night, trade expert David Henig from the European Centre For International Political Economy, said: ‘GATT Article 21 provisions on national security may be of some use in reconciling Brexit with no Irish border, but will not on their own provide an immediate solution acceptable to all parties. We can’t escape the need for an agreement by the EU and Irish communities.’
Jacob Rees-Mogg plans tour of UK’s Brexit heartlands…in a bright yellow truck that looks like it came out of US TV classic Baywatch!
By Harry Cole
Jacob Rees-Mogg is set to embark on a pro-Boris tour in a bright yellow truck like the ones used in the cheesy 1990s American TV series Baywatch.
The distinctive Ford Ranger – fomerly used by council street cleaners – has even been nicknamed Pamela, after the lifeguard drama’s pneumatic star, Pamela Anderson.
It is owned by Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry, a Johnson ally, who brought it for £4,000 two months ago and has converted it into a mobile campaigning centre. He and Mr Rees-Mogg will take the truck on a 170-mile tour from Cleethorpes to Blackpool on Thursday.
Jacob Rees-Mogg is set to embark on a pro-Boris tour in a bright yellow truck like the ones used in the cheesy 1990s American TV series Baywatch
Yellow van man: Jacob Rees-Mogg is to hit the North in this truck – formerly used by street cleaners
They will visit marginal Tory seats in the North of England such as Goole, Morley and Preston to bolster support for their candidate.
Echoing US President Donald Trump’s famous campaign slogan, Mr Berry told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We are on a coast-to-coast mission to prove Boris can make the North great again.
‘We are going across the Northern Powerhouse to visit Conservative associations and explain why Boris is the only man who can unite the party and the country.
Original: Baywatch star David Hasselhoff with a similar vehicle on the show in 1991
‘People love Jacob everywhere, he’s up here quite a lot and I’m sure he’s going to go down brilliantly.’
Mr Johnson said this week that he believes the Northern Powerhouse Minister should be in the Cabinet, with Mr Berry highly tipped to retain the role in a Johnson administration. The Tory frontrunner told the Yorkshire Post: ‘There will be somebody absolutely representing the Northern Powerhouse and the interests of the North, you bet, in the Cabinet.’
l Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel risked a family rift last night after mocking her brother’s flagship policy to make more immigrants learn English. She tweeted that she did not understand as ‘we spoke ancient Greek at home’. Mr Johnson’s siblings have been warned by dad Stanley not to risk derailing his tilt for No 10 with public comments.