Johnson blasts May at Conservative conference

Boris Johnson spoke at Conservative party conference in Birmingham yesterday, where he used his speech to attack Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit proposal, urging the PM to “Chuck Chequers”, and to revert back to her original Lancaster house proposal, in a heavily-critical half-hour address.

Johnson’s speech veered from scathing criticisms of the PM’s Brexit strategy and thinly-veiled shots at her leadership, to warnings of the future of Britain under control of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party.

Johnson told the 1,500-strong crowd at the fringe event that May’s chequers proposal was “not what we voted for”, adding: “This is not taking back control: this is forfeiting control.”

“If we get it wrong, if we bottle Brexit now, believe me, the people of this country will find it hard to forgive,” he told attendees, adding “If we get it wrong, if we proceed with this undemocratic solution, if we remain half in, half out, we will protract this toxic tedious business that is frankly so offputting to sensible middle-of-the-road people who want us to get on with their priorities.”

He added that the original Lancaster house proposal laid out by May, which saw Britain leaving both the single market and the customs union, could be a “win-win” for both Britain and the EU.

May is due to make her speech to the Conservative party conference later this morning…

May’s speech: “no more austerity”

Theresa May used her speech at the closing of the Conservative conference to call for unity from her party, promise an end to austerity, and poke fun at herself.

The PM came onto the stage to the tune of ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’, awkwardly dancing in what was a clear reference to her public gaffe where she danced with the children of a South African secondary school earlier this year.

She used the majority of her speech to call for unity in her party in the lead up to Brexit, after ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson yesterday used his conference speech to launch an attack on her Chequers proposal.

Then, the PM turned to attack Labour’s policies, before borrowing one of their own, vowing that 10 years after the banking crisis, “austerity is over”. This seeming promise came from the PM despite chancellor Philip Hammond strongly hinting in his speech that a no-deal Brexit could lead to further austerity.

May’s post-Johnson-speech BBC interview

In her interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Theresa May responded to Boris Johnson’s criticisms of her at his conference speech by saying there were points in it that had made her “cross”.

When questioned about the current strength of her chequers proposal, May said: “What is important for people in their day to day lives is that the government is putting the national interest first.” she added: “we have put forward a proposal that does reflects and respects and delivers on the vote that the british people gave, leaving the European Union, doing so in a way that takes back control of money, of our laws and our borders.”

Kuenssberg asked May whether she was “cross” that Boris Johnson had “trampled all over” her Chequers proposal in his conference speech. She responded that there were “one or two things that Boris said that I am cross about”.

“He wanted to tear up our guarantee to the people of Northern Ireland”, May said, adding that her Chequers proposal was the only plan “on the table at the moment” that upheld that guarantee for the people of Northern Ireland.

May also declined to speculate when asked whether Boris Johnson could ever become prime minister, saying that Brexit wasn’t about the jobs of politicians, it was about the jobs of ordinary people.

DUP threatens to vote against PM

The Democratic Unionist party has threatened to pull the plug on its support of the government, saying they will not support the prime minister if she backs down from her promise that there will no hard border in the Irish sea.

Nigel Dodds, the leader of the DUP in the House of Commons, told the Guardian that if May’s proposals did not stick to her promise, and introduced new checks on goods coming into Northern Ireland from Britain, then the party would “vote against it,” adding: “we will vote for our red lines.”

Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, told the paper: “Theresa May understands very well that we are not bluffing on this issue … there is far too much at stake for us as unionists, but also economically for Northern Ireland.”

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