Boris Johnson has publicly questioned Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal with the European Union, claiming that his previous deal also resulted in Brussels gaining control.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated on Thursday at the Global Soft Power Summit that both the government’s new Brexit deal and his own previous agreement ultimately hand over power to the European Union.
It is possibly the single most significant setback to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s new ‘Windsor Framework’ agreement with Brussels, which, while allowing the EU to retain significant control over Northern Ireland, has been well received by many in his own party.
The new arrangement, however, has received a much colder reception from hardline Brexiteers and pro-UK unionists in Northern Ireland, with both quietly debating whether or not to accept what is ultimately a compromise agreement.
Boris Johnson appears to be one of the first major players within the Conservative (Tory) Party to break his silence, with Sky News reporting that he will find it “very difficult” to vote in favour of the deal in the British parliament because he believes it will not do enough to shift power away from the EU.
“I’m going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this myself because I believe that we should have done something different,” he reportedly told the conference.
He went on to say that he “hopes” the new deal, despite his scepticism, “will work”, though added that should it not, the British government needs to “have the guts” to push for a unilateral abolition of EU powers in the region, as was initially planned in his government’s Northern Ireland Protocol Bill — now abandoned by Sunak to appease Brussels.