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Boris Johnson compares Chequers deal to ‘suicide vest’

Boris Johnson compares Chequers deal to 'suicide vest'

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the former foreign secretary said the Chequers deal had opened the UK to “perpetual political blackmail”.

 

Mr Johnson quit his post in July after the plan was agreed by the cabinet.

 

Some Tory MPs have strongly criticised his language in the article.

He said the reason for this was “simple”, namely Northern Ireland and the “insanity of the so-called backstop”.

 

The backstop solution is a safety net the UK and EU signed up to in December 2017, which seeks to maintain cross-border co-operation, support the all-island economy and protect the Good Friday peace agreement.

 

Mr Johnson said agreeing to this had “opened ourselves to perpetual political blackmail”.

 

He added: “We have wrapped a suicide vest around the British constitution – and handed the detonator to Michel Barnier [the EU’s chief negotiator].”

 

Mr Johnson wants the UK to pursue a technological solution for the border, but says the government has always had a “secret agenda” to keep the UK in the single market and customs union.

 

He concluded: “We have put our own heads deliberately on the block.”