May closes "suicide vest" around UK over Brexit, says Johnson

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May's agreement on the Brexit concludes "a suicide bombing around the British constitution" and brings the detonator back to the European Union, former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. comments strongly criticized.

In an article in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Johnson insisted that his attack on May's so-called Checkers plan to leave the EU, called it "a humiliation" that opens "ourselves perpetual political blackmail ".

Mai is in the spotlight of the Brexit debate, with Johnson, his favorite to replace it, pushing eurosceptic MEPs to "push the auditors" and continue a clean break with the bloc.

But until now, May said she would not let her plan on Britain's future relations with the bloc after Brexit – the biggest change in foreign and trade policy in the country since nearly a year. a half-century.

"We put a suicide vest around the British constitution – and handed the detonator to (EU chief negotiator) Michel Barnier," wrote Johnson.

His remarks – particularly the reference to a suicide vest – were condemned by members of the Conservative Party in power.

Alan Duncan, a Foreign Office minister, said Johnson's comments marked "one of the most disgusting moments of modern British politics."

"For Boris, to say that the Prime Minister's point of view resembles that of a suicide bomber is too much," he said on Twitter. "I'm sorry, but that's the political end of Boris Johnson. If it is not now, I will make it later.

"NOT NEWS"

Johnson resigned as Foreign Secretary on the Checkers Plan, named after the May National Residence, where the government accepted proposals to maintain close trade ties with the EU in July.

The Prime Minister's plans have also been criticized by EU supporters for offering the "worst of all worlds".

Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said her organization would support a second vote on Brexit if May failed to win a labor-friendly bargain.

But two ministers rejected Johnson's call for Britain to abandon the Checkers and negotiate a Canadian-style trade deal, saying such an agreement would not solve the problem of a new border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

"This is not news that he has a difference of opinion with the Prime Minister and that is why he left the government," said Said Javid, the interior minister, on the show Andrew Marr of the BBC. "I think there are much better ways to articulate your differences."

Housing Minister James Brokenshire urged the Conservatives to move ahead with the Checkers plan, which May has yet to secure from his party, the UK parliament and EU negotiators.

Many Johnson supporters hope his increasingly vocal criticism of May will signal that he will launch an offer of leadership while other conservatives suggest that his Mail article was intended solely to distract the attention of his colleagues. marital problems.

On Friday, Johnson said he was separated from his wife Marina Wheeler and that the couple were going to divorce.