Boris Johnson suggests Britain risks Greek-style economic woes under Chequers Brexit plan

Boris Johnson has said Britain could face an economic hit like that which devastated Greece under Theresa May's Brexit plans.



The former Foreign Secretary dramatically quit the Cabinet last month in protest over the Chequers plan, which has been widely pilloried by Brexiteers, saying it would leave Britain under the “status of a colony”.

In a fresh attack on Mrs May’s plan, he said the proposals should be "chucked" or the UK would become a “perpetual punk of Brussels”.

Writing in his weekly Daily Telegraph column Mr Johnson warned that EU “bullying” of Greece, which was severely hit by the 2008 financial crisis and forced into austerity by European leaders, left a “direct read-across for Britain”.

“Under the Chequers proposals, we are about to make a historic mistake and turn this country into a rules-taker from Brussels, with no say on those rules – not just for industrial goods and agri-foods but across a wide range of economic activity,” he wrote.

“Look at the humiliation of Greece – an EU member – and ask yourself how the EU will legislate with the UK out of the room, and when we can no longer do anything to protect ourselves from the imposition of those rules.

“Will the EU act in our interests and the interests of UK jobs and growth, or the interests of the EU?

“The answer is clear. It is written in graffiti all over Greece. Why, then, are we proposing to turn the UK, in important respects, into the perpetual punk of Brussels? Chuck Chequers.”

Mr Johnson added that it was because the country “meekly obeyed” the EU that the Mediterranean land's unemployment levels stand at 20% and the economy is a quarter of the size it was before the financial crash.

In a further swipe at Brussels, he predicted that it was “highly likely” the single currency will “implode”.

He added: “And in the meantime the experience of Greece alone is a lesson in the absolute insanity of any country allowing itself to be bullied by EU negotiators.”

Mr Johnson’s latest intervention comes weeks after he soared to the top of a poll of party members as favourite to succeed Mrs May as Tory leader and prime minister.

The former Cabinet minister also prompted severe criticism over an earlier column where he compared Muslim women who wear the burka to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”.