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LONDON (Reuters) – Former minister Jo Johnson said some of his colleagues "were thinking hard" about Theresa May's Brexit project, after her dramatic resignation, putting the British prime minister's party in jeopardy.
British MP Jo Johnson leaves the BBC Broadcasting House in London, England on November 10, 2018. REUTERS / Henry Nicholls
The young Minister of Transport – and younger brother of former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – on Friday issued a harsh criticism of May's Brexit deal, which resigned unexpectedly, saying the country should retreat of the crisis.
On Saturday, he also attacked the "fantastic promises" made in the referendum by Brexit activists such as his brother.
The gap between their vision and that offered by May is now so vast, he said, that it would be a "parody of democracy" if the public was not consulted in a new vote.
"This is one of the most important issues we will face in our political careers," he told BBC Radio on Saturday.
"I know a lot of people are seriously thinking about the looming agreement and how they are going to respond to it."
Jo Johnson's intervention was all the more powerful as he had previously voted to keep the group alive. His departure may galvanize other pro-European ministers against the agreement, alongside Brexiteers who have already vowed to vote against it.
Criticism underscores the coming battle as May attempts to reach an agreement that will be acceptable to the various factions of her deeply divided party and the small Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party on which she intends to govern.
May has given priority to maintaining free trade of goods with Europe, but her many critics claim that Britain will be subject to decisions made in Brussels without any contribution from London.
Negotiations with European negotiators will resume on Sunday. Less than five months before Britain leaves the EU on March 29, negotiations on a plan to safeguard the land border between the British-dominated Northern Ireland and Ireland EU members are still blocked in case they do not reach a long-term agreement.
"It's tight, but everything is suspended because of the political situation in the United Kingdom," a diplomat told Reuters on Friday of an EU meeting with national envoys.
The head of the DUP, Arlene Foster, said Saturday that his 10 MPs could not vote for this deal as he "was handcuffing the UK to the EU, holding the keys".
UK Trade Minister Liam Fox said Britain may not accept an agreement if no solution can be found.
Jo Johnson, a former Financial Times reporter less known than his brother, said he could not accept Parliament having to choose between a May agreement and a no deal, which would put the economy at risk.
He said May's proposal put the country on the verge of the greatest crisis since the Second World War and that his priority was to prevent the country from doing something "irrevocably stupid".
"During the campaign, promises were made that proved undeliverable," he said.
"They are so different from the Brexit announced in the referendum that I think it would be a sham democracy if we did not return to the citizens and ask for their consent for our departure from the EU on this basis."
Downing Street said that there would be no second referendum.
Additional report by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Edited by Kirsten Donovan and Hugh Lawson
