Politics

Amber Rudd calls on Boris Johnson to reveal Brexit plan


Amber Rudd has called for Boris Johnson to be more explicit on his Brexit plan, warning the Conservative leadership frontrunner that he would face a difficult situation as prime minister, and that “enthusiasm and optimism is not sufficient”.

Speaking after Johnson broke his recent silence to be questioned about Brexit and his personal life in a BBC interview, Rudd added to warnings that his government could be swiftly brought down if it pushed for a no-deal Brexit.

Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, who supports Jeremy Hunt in the leadership contest, said while she would not vote to support a no-confidence motion against a Johnson government to stop no deal, speculation that up to a dozen Tory MPs might do so seemed “about right”.

Speaking to the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, in his first televised interview since his campaign kicked off more than four weeks ago, Johnson said he would never reveal the events that led to the police being called to the home of his partner Carrie Symonds last week.


Boris Johnson outlines his plans for ‘day one’ if elected PM – video

“I do not talk about stuff involving my family, my loved ones. And there’s a very good reason for that. That is that, if you do, you drag them into things that, really is, is, in a way that is not fair on them,” he said.

He defended his Brexit plan to renegotiate a deal with the European Union, but admitted he could not rip up the entire withdrawal agreement, which some Conservative Eurosceptics have said they believed he was planning to do.

Johnson claimed issues including the Irish border would be tackled “on the other side of 31 October during what’s called the implementation period” but then was forced to agree that the UK would not be entitled to such an implementation period without signing up to the current withdrawal agreement.

Asked about the interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Rudd said she had not been entirely convinced.

“There are two problems we have as a government for delivering on this,” she said. “There’s the impasse with the European Union, and there’s the impasse in parliament with MPs. I appreciate Boris’s enthusiasm and his confidence and positivity, but I still think we’re looking for the evidence of what the plan is.”

Personal style

A late-night altercation between Tory leadership favourite, Boris Johnson, and his partner, Carrie Symonds have changed the dynamics of Johnson’s campaign. He had been either invisible or deliberately sober to the point of dullness, when his usual primary draw to Tory members is a self-created sense of optimism and fun. Much is also made of his supposed broad appeal to the electorate, evidenced by two terms as London mayor.

In most political contests, Johnson’s character – he has lost more than one job for lying, and has a complex and opaque personal life – would be a big issue, but among the Tory faithful he seemingly receives a free pass. It remains to be seen what impact that late-night police visit will have on his chances. 

Brexit

He has promised to push for a new deal while insisting the UK will leave the EU come what may on 31 October, even if it involves no deal. While his hard Brexit supporters are adamant this is a cast-iron guarantee of leaving on that date, elsewhere Johnson has been somewhat less definitive. Asked about the date in a BBC TV debate, Johnson said only that it was ’eminently feasible’.

Taxation

His main pledge has been to raise the threshold for the 40% higher tax rate from £50,000 to £80,000, at a cost of almost £10bn a year, which would help about 3 million higher earners, a demographic with a fairly sizeable crossover into Tory members. Johnson’s camp insist it would be part of a wider – and so far unknown – package of tax changes.

Public spending

He has said relatively little, beyond promising a fairly small increase in schools funding, as well as talking about the need to roll out fast broadband across the country. Johnson has generally hinted he would loosen the purse strings, but given his prior fondness for big-ticket projects – London’s cancelled garden bridge, the mooted ‘Boris island’ airport – perhaps expect more of a focus on infrastructure projects than services.

Climate and environment

This is unlikely to be a big issue for Conservative party members, and Johnson has not said much on this beyond confirming his general support for the new government target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to a net zero by 2050.

Foreign policy

Also unlikely to be a big issue among Tory members, beyond vague platitudes on ‘global Britain’, it could be a weak spot for Johnson given his poor performance as foreign secretary. He was seen as something of a joke by diplomats – both UK and foreign – and is likely to face more questioning over his gaffe about the jailed British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Peter Walker Political correspondent


Photograph: Isabel Infantes/AFP

In the interview, Johnson said he would seek to deploy some “creative ambiguity” over the UK’s £39bn separation payment as a lever to push the EU into new concessions.

Rudd said: “I don’t believe that’s enough, no. I think Boris needs to go further in explaining how he would do it. What happens on 31 October if, despite his great powers of persuasion, he has not managed to break this deadlock. We need to understand what the facts are underneath this.”

Asked if she would join Conservative MPs such as Ken Clarke in backing a no-confidence motion to block a no-deal departure, Rudd said: “No, I wouldn’t. But he is right that there are a number of Conservatives who take that view.

“This reinforces the point I’m making, which is this is an incredibly difficult situation, and Boris needs to explain how he will deal with both sides of the Conservative party that have concerns, and try to break the impasse with the European Union. Enthusiasm and optimism is not sufficient.”

The junior defence minister Tobias Ellwood has predicted that up to a dozen MPs could rebel. Rudd said: “I think that’s about right. I think it’s slightly less than that, but it’s certainly more than two.”

Rudd described Johnson’s wariness of taking part in TV debates against Hunt as “very odd”. After Johnson said he would not take part in a planned Sky News debate with Hunt on Tuesday night, the broadcaster cancelled the programme.

It is understood Johnson declined to take part in Sky’s debate because of terms agreed for an ITV debate next week, which the broadcaster has asked be the first head-to-head debate.

However, Hunt’s camp pointed out that Johnson had declined all television debates until Conservative members had begun returning their ballot papers.

“Bottler Boris and his complacent campaign have shown they can’t trust their candidate to turn up and perform,” a source close to Hunt’s campaign said.



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