Theresa May 'in fear' of Boris Johnson as Chequers plan attacked
The PM's strategy for leaving the EU is branded "more unpopular than the poll tax" amid growing criticism of her proposals.
Monday 3 September 2018 21:12, UK
Theresa May has been accused of living in fear of Boris Johnson as she saw her Brexit strategy come under renewed attack from both Tory Leavers and Remainers.
On the eve of MPs returning to Westminster after their summer break, Conservative divisions over the UK's departure from the EU burst into the open once again.
Mrs May is facing a turbulent few months in parliament as she attempts to win agreement for her Brexit proposals, known as the Chequers plan, both within her own party and from the EU.
It will likely see her survival in Downing Street put at its most perilous point since the immediate aftermath of the disastrous general election result last year.
Mr Johnson, who quit as foreign secretary in July in protest at the Chequers scheme, returned to his Brexit battle with the prime minister on Monday with another explosive newspaper article.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson claimed Britain is waving the "white flag" in negotiations with the EU and that talks with Brussels are a "fix".
However, Number 10 hit back at the ex-cabinet minister with the withering verdict that Mr Johnson's column presented "no new ideas to respond to".
Mrs May's spokesman added she was a "serious" prime minister who has "put forward serious proposals".
Yet, Downing Street's put-down of Mr Johnson saw Mrs May accused of running scared of the leading Brexiteer.
Prominent Conservative backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "Downing Street only criticises politicians about whom it is afeared.
"If Mr Johnson were as weak as they seem to say, when you say 'what do you think of Mr Johnson', they would say 'who?'. But, instead, they get into these complex arguments and that is not a sign of strength."
He spoke following a meeting between EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and the House of Commons' Brexit committee, of which Mr Rees-Mogg is a member.
Mr Rees-Mogg claimed both he and Mr Barnier were in "considerable degree of agreement that Chequers is absolute rubbish and that we should chuck it" in favour of a trade agreement similar to that signed between the EU and Canada.
Despite his opposition to the Chequers plan, Mr Rees-Mogg repeated he is not looking to bring down Mrs May. However, he suggested Mr Johnson would make a good future Conservative leader.
Ex-education secretary Justine Greening also claimed Mrs May's Brexit proposals are now "more unpopular" than Margaret Thatcher's poll tax.
Ms Greening, who backed Remain at the EU referendum, told Sky News the prime minister should "show some leadership and accept that - although tabled with the best of intentions - the Chequers deal is now dead".
She added: "The prime minister would better spend her time working out an alternative route forward than spending the next two months trying to get a deal round Europe that she isn't going to be able to get through parliament at home and people fundamentally don't want."
Former minister Nick Boles, another Remainer, also called on Mrs May to ditch her plan and support his "plan B" of the UK moving temporarily to a Norway-style relationship with the EU, before agreeing a Canada-like deal.
Defending the prime minister's proposals, Brexit minister Robin Walker said: "What parliament will want to see is we're delivering on what people voted for in the referendum: taking control of our laws, our money and our borders.
"That is exactly what the Chequers plan does, but it also safeguards the vital interests of our economy."