Boris Johnson will ‘just say no’ if Theresa May tries to sack him

Agnes Chambre

Boris Johnson will “just say no” if Theresa May tries to sack him, according to a minister.



Allies of the Foreign Secretary warned removing Mr Johnson would “undermine public confidence” and would go down with voters like a “bucket of cold sick”.

Brexiteers instead lined up to call for the Chancellor Philip Hammond to be removed from his post, with Bernard Jenkin attacking his “gloomy” approach to leaving the EU.

It comes after the Prime Minister hinted that Mr Johnson could be demoted in a reshuffle in a bid reassert her authority in the wake of a damaging Tory party conference address.

Mr Johnson repeatedly challenged Mrs May on Brexit in the run-up to the party's annual get-together in Manchester, by repeatedly setting out his own Brexit vision.

Yesterday, Lord Heseltine said Mrs May had to sack Mr Johnson if she is to have any hope of taking back control of her party.

But one minister told the Daily Telegraph: "Let's say she tries to move Boris to Defence Secretary. Leadsom said no thank you, and Boris carries significantly more influence. He'd just say no - what is she going to do about it?

"There's a stench of death emanating from Downing Street. If you were a Brexiteer you would be worried [if Mr Johnson was demoted]. You'd look around the Cabinet table and see Remainers occupying the key positions."

Another minister said: "Brexit is absolutely crucial to democracy in this country now. If we fail to deliver that the public will never forgive us. A reshuffle would be a huge distraction, we don't need to replace people for the hell of it.

"It [removing Mr Johnson] will undermine public confidence in Brexit. It would be counter-productive."

However, a number of senior MPs, including a cabinet minister, called for Mr Hammond to be fired instead, saying he was "deliberately trying to make Brexit negotiations difficult".

Eurosceptic Conservative MP publically attacked Mr Hammond, writing in the Guardian: “The Treasury seems unable to hear any voices except those that reinforce their preconceptions. It seems blind to the facts, preoccupied with preserving “access” to the EU market seemingly at any cost.”

One cabinet minister told the Guardian: "He has completely failed. He has not given her any domestic announcements that she can sell. He is miserable, he talks people down, he is making Brexit hard. He just saps everyone's self-confidence."