Former UK premier Boris Johnson on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal with the European Union, saying he would find it very difficult to get Parliament to vote for it. Sunak is riding a largely positive wave after the British prime minister declared a “decisive breakthrough” with the EU in the form of the Windsor Framework, which replaces his former boss’ controversial Northern Ireland Protocol.
The British Indian leader told the House of Commons that the new agreement leaves no doubt that we have now taken back control. However, Johnson — now a dissident backbench Conservative Party MP — told the Global Soft Power Summit in London on Thursday that he would find it very difficult to vote for a new deal in parliament. “I know I’m not going to be thanked for saying this, but I feel it’s my job to do this: We need to be clear about what’s really going on here,” Johnson said. “It’s not about Britain taking back control, and although it’s simplistic, it’s really a version of the solution that was being offered to (former British prime minister) Liz Truss last year when she was foreign secretary. This is the grace of the European Union. We are adamant about being allowed to do what we want to do in our country, not by our laws but by theirs,” he added. He said, “I myself would find it very difficult to vote for a vote like this because I believe we should have done something different. No matter how much plaster falls from the ceiling in Brussels.” Johnson said he hoped the new deal would work, but if it did not, the government should have the “guts” to reintroduce the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill he has drawn up, which would allow Britain to leave the country after Brexit. Will allow parts of the protocol to be changed unilaterally. without EU permission.
While the EU claims such a move violates international law, Johnson believes it is the bill that has finally “brought the EU to seriously negotiate.” Sunak, who had withdrawn the bill from parliament after months of intense negotiations, agreed to a new deal with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Windsor on Monday. It is hoped the Windsor Framework will break the impasse over the controversial and unworkable Northern Ireland Protocol, which was designed to prevent a post-Brexit hard border on the island of Ireland (the UK territory of Northern Ireland and an EU member), but which effectively created a trade partition between the kingdoms of Ireland. Now, Sunak awaits a response from the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and clear support from hard Brexiters within his own Tory party for the new structure. Johnson’s intervention is expected to sway the latter somewhat, but the general consensus is that Sunak is unlikely to face any major mutiny in the ranks over the issue.
In what is widely seen as a triumph of his leadership abilities, the prime minister has decided to have his party colleagues celebrate an “away day” at Windsor, the site of the new Brexit framework. According to ‘The Times, Conservative Party MPs have been put on a bus from London to Windsor on Thursday morning for 24 hours of bonding, team building, and strategy.
