Boris Johnson has told Brussels he wants to rewrite the defence pledges in the current Brexit deal, sparking EU fears that he will use the security of European citizens as a bargaining chip.

A demand for a looser level of cooperation was made by Johnson’s EU envoy, David Frost, during the recent talks in Brussels with the European commission negotiators.

The UK is arguably the EU’s strongest defence power, and one of only two member states alongside France possessing the “full spectrum” of military capabilities.

Senior Conservatives, including Nick Timothy, Theresa May’s former chief of staff who is now a Johnson supporter, have long suggested that the British government should use its defence capability as leverage to gain concessions from the EU on trade.

The current political declaration contains a commitment to “close cooperation in union-led crisis management missions and operations, both civilian and military”.

It is understood the British government is insisting that any future deal must contain structures that will maintain British sovereign control over how its defence assets are used. It is argued that the current political declaration does not go far enough in protecting its interests.

A UK source said: “The future relationship should include a security relationship that will enable the UK and the EU to jointly combat shared threats faced by our citizens domestically and abroad.”

EU diplomats suggested that Johnson was establishing a tough line on military cooperation in the hope of later trading it for movement from Brussels elsewhere in the future agreement.

“It looks like they are seeking leverage,” said one EU diplomat. Other senior officials said they regarded the demand as being part of a broader move to have a “clean break” from the EU in all parts of the relationship.

Frost has emphasised the UK government’s wish to ditch Theresa May’s goal of the closest possible economic relationship and frictionless trade for a looser deal on regulatory alignment, which will create some barriers to trade but give the UK greater freedom in striking global trade deals.



Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian MEP on the European parliament’s Brexit steering group, said Johnson was mistaken if he believed the UK could use its military strength to blackmail the EU.

He said: “It won’t work. I am sure it wouldn’t have worked if they had tried this two years ago. If they believe they are going to get us to compromise on the Irish backstop or the single market just for defence cooperation, they are wrong. I am prepared to discuss things with people who don’t share my views, and I have great respect for many Conservative MPs, but Johnson is just obsessed with power.

“We have too many politicians like that with Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the US. Johnson has turned his party into the English nationalists’ party, and I am not the only one who thinks that.”

May was accused of trying to blackmail the EU in 2017 when the UK first triggered the article 50 exit process. A letter overseen by her two chiefs of staff, Timothy and Fiona Hill, had warned that if the UK left without a deal it would trade on World Trade Organization terms and “in security terms, a failure to reach agreement would mean our cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened”.

The then prime minister later stepped back from the threat by insisting that Britain’s role in defending Europe was unconditional.

Timothy, who was sacked following the disastrous 2017 general election campaign, wrote last month that May’s negotiating strategy had given away “her leverage – on security, on trade deals with other countries, on Britain’s so-called divorce bill – in return for nothing”.

Jenny Chapman, a shadow Brexit minister, said: “This is further evidence that Boris Johnson’s government wants a distant and abrupt departure from the EU, with minimal cooperation. Johnson is putting ideology above the national interest – even in vital areas such as defence and security.”

Frost is expected to return on Friday for further talks but EU negotiators expressed their pessimism over progress given events in London during a meeting with EU diplomats. The member states’ representatives were told on Thursday by commission officials that there was still no guarantee of an extension of article 50 as the prime minister could dump the Benn deal blocking a no deal in the event of him winning a general election before 31 October.