Johnson assaults May’s Brexit plan at fractious party meeting
Former British foreign minister Boris Johnson set out his stall to the Conservative Party faithful on Tuesday (2 October), stopping just short of an outright leadership bid to replace Prime Minister Theresa May but tearing into her Brexit blueprin, write Elizabeth Piper, Kylie MacLellan and William James.
“It’s important to support the only politician I can see who is actively campaigning to give people the Leave that they voted for”, said Colette Wyatt-Lowe, 71, a councillor from the outskirts of London, while queueing to hear Johnson speak.
The former foreign secretary, with his colourful turn of phrase and humorous flourishes, can certainly hold an audience as he showed earlier this week but as a party leader he would be disastrous.
She argues that her plan is the only way to avoid customs checks along the now invisible border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and European Union member Ireland – a development that would be troublesome for residents and businesses on both sides, and could undermine Northern Ireland’s peace process.
May continued to distance the Conservative Party’s “decency and moderate patriotism” from Labour’s actions by placing the two parties on a spectrum with an ever-more expanding opinion gap in the middle.
“He is absolutely right about the threat that Chequers poses to our democracy, our country and ultimately the fortunes of the Conservative Party if we stick with it”, Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative lawmaker, said.
“Even if we do not all agree on every part of this proposal”, May added, “we need to come together”.
But she did her best to appear carefree as she sashayed on to the stage to the Abba hit Dancing Queen – a reference to the much-shared video of her dancing on a trip to Africa – and joked about the coughing fit and collapsing stage backdrop which marred her calamitous conference speech in Manchester past year.
“Far better to take up business’ open offer to work together”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, she said, would “outsource our conscience to the Kremlin”. If this is her rendition of unity, we’d all do best never to see what May’s discord looks like.
The highly anticipated moment of this year’s Conservative Party Conference had arrived – Theresa May stepped on stage, ready to deliver her speech.
Less than three weeks before a make-or-break European Union summit in Brussels, May said divorce talks were entering their “toughest phase”. “She is putting her country before herself, which not many people would do”. On the domestic front, the British PM set an agenda that moved away from austerity and cuts to public services and announced new borrowing powers for local councils to build more homes. We need a strong leader, someone who believes in Brexit and someone to deliver what the electorate voted for.
Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly ruled out holding a public vote on any final Brexit deal but the opposition Labour Party increased pressure on her last week by saying it would keep the option of another referendum on the table.
Mr Lee said it was born out of his experience as a prisons minister, which left him believing the Conservative Party was not interested in tackling the root causes of problems. If we all go off in our different directions…we risk ending up with no Brexit at all.’ But was it enough to bind all the flailing, angry limbs of our political ecosystem?
Ok, ok, before we get to the meat we’re going to let you watch the dance.