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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/03/we-have-gone-into-battle-with-white-flag-fluttering-boris-attacks-mays-chequers-plan
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| No 10 slaps down Boris Johnson over Chequers plan criticism | No 10 slaps down Boris Johnson over Chequers plan criticism |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Downing Street has slapped down Boris Johnson saying he offered “no new ideas” on Brexit after he launched a fierce attack on Theresa May’s Chequers plan for leaving the European Union. | Downing Street has slapped down Boris Johnson saying he offered “no new ideas” on Brexit after he launched a fierce attack on Theresa May’s Chequers plan for leaving the European Union. |
| In a thinly-veiled rebuke to Johnson, who claimed that the prime minister was entering negotiations with Brussels with a “white flag fluttering”, her spokesman said the country needed “serious leadership with a serious plan”. | In a thinly-veiled rebuke to Johnson, who claimed that the prime minister was entering negotiations with Brussels with a “white flag fluttering”, her spokesman said the country needed “serious leadership with a serious plan”. |
| No 10’s intervention marks an escalation of the feud between the prime minister and her former foreign secretary, which has intensified since his attack on the government’s Brexit plans, widely viewed as a renewed push for the top job. | No 10’s intervention marks an escalation of the feud between the prime minister and her former foreign secretary, which has intensified since his attack on the government’s Brexit plans, widely viewed as a renewed push for the top job. |
| Johnson used his newspaper column on Monday to accuse some members of the government of deliberately using the Irish border situation to “stop a proper Brexit”, a claim rejected by Whitehall sources. | Johnson used his newspaper column on Monday to accuse some members of the government of deliberately using the Irish border situation to “stop a proper Brexit”, a claim rejected by Whitehall sources. |
| The prime minister’s spokesman said: “The Chequers proposals are the only credible and negotiable plan which has been put forward and which will deliver on the will of the British people.” | The prime minister’s spokesman said: “The Chequers proposals are the only credible and negotiable plan which has been put forward and which will deliver on the will of the British people.” |
| He added: “There’s no new ideas in this article to respond to. What we need at this time is serious leadership with a serious plan. That’s exactly what the country has with this prime minister and this Brexit plan.” | He added: “There’s no new ideas in this article to respond to. What we need at this time is serious leadership with a serious plan. That’s exactly what the country has with this prime minister and this Brexit plan.” |
| It came after Damian Green, the prime minister’s former deputy, condemned hard-Brexit supporters, such as Johnson, for having no workable plan of their own, while the former Brexit secretary David Davis said it was not the time for “personality politics”. | It came after Damian Green, the prime minister’s former deputy, condemned hard-Brexit supporters, such as Johnson, for having no workable plan of their own, while the former Brexit secretary David Davis said it was not the time for “personality politics”. |
| Noisiest in their opposition are Tory Brexiters, not least David Davis and Boris Johnson, both of whom quit the cabinet in protest. They argue that the promise to maintain a common rulebook for goods and other continued alignment will mean a post-Brexit UK is tied to the EU without having a say on future rules, rather than being a free-trading independent nation. | |
| Labour has also disparaged the proposal, expressing deep scepticism about the so-called facilitated customs arrangement system. | |
| Brussels has sought to stay positive, but has deep concerns about elements of the plan viewed as overly pick-and-mix, and thus potentially incompatible with EU principles. | |
| Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, says he opposes both the customs plan and the idea of alignment for goods. He also makes plain his contention that the Chequers plan contains no workable idea for the Ireland-Northern Ireland border. | |
| But at the same time the EU has been careful to not entirely dismiss the proposals, raising the possibility it could accept some adapted version. | |
| Officially, May and her cabinet, though even here the backing can seem lukewarm at times. Asked about Chequers, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, said it was the government’s plan “right now”, indicating alternative ideas could be considered. | |
| Even May’s allies concede it will be a hugely difficult task to get the plan through parliament. Damian Green, the PM’s close friend and former de fact deputy, described the process as “walking a narrow path with people chucking rocks at us from both sides”. | |
| On the remain side of the Conservatives, the former education secretary Justine Greening called the Chequers plan “more unpopular than the poll tax”, saying May should start again from scratch. | |
| If anything can save the plan – and it’s an outside shot – it will be a combination of the hugely tight timetable and the fact that, as yet, no one else has yet produced a plan with a better chance of being accepted by parliament. | |
| On 20 September, an informal gathering in Salzburg, Austria, will provide a snapshot of current EU thinking. Then, 10 days later, the Conservative conference could show the Chequers plan is holed below the waterline. | |
| If it survives these tests, the proposals will then reach the crucial EU summit Brussels on 18 October, with something final needed, at the very latest, in the next two months. PETER WALKER | |
| In his article, Johnson said that the main problem with Brexitwas “not that we have failed, but that we have not even tried”. | In his article, Johnson said that the main problem with Brexitwas “not that we have failed, but that we have not even tried”. |
| Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, however, Davis seemed to attack Johnson’s agenda. | Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, however, Davis seemed to attack Johnson’s agenda. |
| Asked if it would be better if May stood down, the former Brexit secretary said: “No, we don’t need any more turbulence right now. What matters in all of this is not the personality politics, it’s the outcome at the end.” | Asked if it would be better if May stood down, the former Brexit secretary said: “No, we don’t need any more turbulence right now. What matters in all of this is not the personality politics, it’s the outcome at the end.” |
| Speaking earlier on Monday, Green told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “High-stakes rhetoric, use of words like ‘surrender’ and ‘white flag’ and ‘treachery’ and so on, that some newspapers have used, are absolutely what we don’t need in the current circumstance. | Speaking earlier on Monday, Green told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “High-stakes rhetoric, use of words like ‘surrender’ and ‘white flag’ and ‘treachery’ and so on, that some newspapers have used, are absolutely what we don’t need in the current circumstance. |
| “What’s interesting now is that the only plan on the table is the British government’s plan. [The EU’s chief negotiator] Michel Barnier hasn’t got a plan, those in my own party who object to Chequers don’t have a plan. So let’s hear what other people have.” | “What’s interesting now is that the only plan on the table is the British government’s plan. [The EU’s chief negotiator] Michel Barnier hasn’t got a plan, those in my own party who object to Chequers don’t have a plan. So let’s hear what other people have.” |
| Green conceded that May faced “a narrow path” to get her plan agreed by MPs. “But it is absolutely certain that there is no parliamentary majority in the House of Commons for a hard Brexit. So I’ll be interested to see what those who are saying: ‘Chequers isn’t good enough, we need a much harder Brexit’, what do they propose to get through the House of Commons?” | Green conceded that May faced “a narrow path” to get her plan agreed by MPs. “But it is absolutely certain that there is no parliamentary majority in the House of Commons for a hard Brexit. So I’ll be interested to see what those who are saying: ‘Chequers isn’t good enough, we need a much harder Brexit’, what do they propose to get through the House of Commons?” |
| MPs return to the Commons from their summer recess on Tuesday, amid growing party disquiet over the direction of the divorce talks. | MPs return to the Commons from their summer recess on Tuesday, amid growing party disquiet over the direction of the divorce talks. |
| Johnson wrote: “The reality is that in this negotiation the EU has so far taken every important trick. The UK has agreed to hand over £40bn of taxpayers’ money for two-thirds of diddly squat.” | Johnson wrote: “The reality is that in this negotiation the EU has so far taken every important trick. The UK has agreed to hand over £40bn of taxpayers’ money for two-thirds of diddly squat.” |
| He said that by adopting the Chequers plan, in which the UK would adopt a common rule book for the trade of food and goods, “we have gone into battle with the white flag fluttering over our leading tank”. | He said that by adopting the Chequers plan, in which the UK would adopt a common rule book for the trade of food and goods, “we have gone into battle with the white flag fluttering over our leading tank”. |
| It would be “impossible for the UK to be more competitive, to innovate, to deviate, to initiate, and we are ruling out major free trade deals”. | It would be “impossible for the UK to be more competitive, to innovate, to deviate, to initiate, and we are ruling out major free trade deals”. |
| This week will be the first chance for Conservative MPs to compare notes about the state of grassroots feeling over Brexit since before the recess. Many ordinary party members are unhappy with the Chequers plan, fearing it amounts to a loss of sovereignty. | This week will be the first chance for Conservative MPs to compare notes about the state of grassroots feeling over Brexit since before the recess. Many ordinary party members are unhappy with the Chequers plan, fearing it amounts to a loss of sovereignty. |
| Johnson called on May to return to the argument of her Lancaster House speech of January 2017. He said that under the current plan, “we will remain in the EU taxi; but this time locked in the boot, with absolutely no say on the destination. We won’t have taken back control – we will have lost control.” | Johnson called on May to return to the argument of her Lancaster House speech of January 2017. He said that under the current plan, “we will remain in the EU taxi; but this time locked in the boot, with absolutely no say on the destination. We won’t have taken back control – we will have lost control.” |
| A group of Tory MPs is set on halting the Chequers plan. The 20 backbench rebels, including former ministers Priti Patel and Iain Duncan Smith, have joined the StandUp4Brexit group, a grassroots campaign that has vowed to tear up the EU negotiations to date. | A group of Tory MPs is set on halting the Chequers plan. The 20 backbench rebels, including former ministers Priti Patel and Iain Duncan Smith, have joined the StandUp4Brexit group, a grassroots campaign that has vowed to tear up the EU negotiations to date. |
| On Sunday, Davis had criticised May for admitting she would have to make compromises to the EU beyond the Chequers agreement in order to reach a deal. The former Brexit secretary told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that he could not vote for what had been proposed because it was worse than staying in. | On Sunday, Davis had criticised May for admitting she would have to make compromises to the EU beyond the Chequers agreement in order to reach a deal. The former Brexit secretary told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that he could not vote for what had been proposed because it was worse than staying in. |
| Davis, who also resigned because he said he could not endorse the Chequers deal, was speaking after the prime minister had said in a Sunday newspaper column that she would “not be pushed into accepting compromises” on the Chequers plan that are “not in our national interest”. | Davis, who also resigned because he said he could not endorse the Chequers deal, was speaking after the prime minister had said in a Sunday newspaper column that she would “not be pushed into accepting compromises” on the Chequers plan that are “not in our national interest”. |
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