It was Johnson's second attack on May in less than a week. Last Monday, he wrote that the negotiated deal is a “victory” for the European Union, headquartered in Brussels, and that Britain is getting “diddly squat.”

AD

AD

In response, May's spokesman said she would not give the piece “any further oxygen” by commenting.

Johnson’s colorful critique echoes the sentiment — if not the language — of anti-Europe members of Parliament who are urging May’s government to “chuck Chequers” and start again.

"Chequers” refers to the Brexit plan proposed by May in July. Under its terms, Britain would maintain its ability to trade freely with the European Union. In exchange, the country would abide by most E.U. regulations. The deal would also allow Northern Ireland to remain in a “customs union” with the bloc if the E.U. drops its push for a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

AD

Johnson resigned in response, saying at the time that the deal would make Britain a “vassal state.”

Johnson's comments drew a feisty response from his political opponents. Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan called his piece “one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics.” It should be “the political end of Boris Johnson,” Duncan wrote on Twitter.

AD

Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat said he was offended by Johnson's use of the term “suicide vest.” Tugendhat survived a suicide bombing outside his office in Afghanistan, he wrote on Twitter. “Comparing the PM to that isn’t funny,” he said. “Grow up.”

May's current foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, took a more measured approach. In an editorial alongside Johnson's, Hunt said May is “better than anyone I know at holding the line in the face of intense pressure. But as a country we can help, too, because her efforts to achieve the best outcome for Britain will be greatly strengthened if we are united behind her.”

"I know this Prime Minister and she would never recommend a deal inconsistent with what the country voted for,” he wrote.