The Daily Telegraph - 24.07.2019

4 **^ Wednesday 24 July 2019 The Daily Telegraph

Victory for Johnson

Johnson to meet Trump three times

By Camilla Tominey

and Gordon Rayner

BORIS JOHNSON is poised

to meet the US president

three times before the UK

leaves the EU in exactly

100 days’ time – as Donald

Trump yesterday referred

to him as “Britain’s Trump”.

The newly elected Tory leader, who

will become prime minister later today

after Theresa May tenders her resigna-

tion to the Queen, is not going to take

any summer holiday to prepare for de-

livering Brexit, “do or die”, on Oct 31.

In an effort to strengthen the special

relationship, he will make a visit to the

US one of his first foreign policy priori-

ties after the president said Mr Johnson

will be a “great” prime minister.

Mr Trump later told a conservative

youth rally in Washington DC: “We

have a really good man who’s going to

be the prime minister of the UK now,

Boris Johnson. Good man. He’s tough

and he’s smart.”

Referring to comparisons between

Mr Johnson and himself, he added:

“They’re saying Britain Trump. They

call him Britain Trump. And people are

saying that’s a good thing. They like me

over there. That’s what they wanted.

“That’s what they need. It’s what

they need. He’ll get it done. Boris is

good, he’s going to do a good job.”

Speaking at Turning Point USA’s

Teen Student Action Summit 2019, he

also appeared to suggest that Mr John-

son should unite with Brexit Party

leader Nigel Farage, who was in the au-

dience, saying: “I know he’s going to

work well with Boris. They are going to

do some tremendous things.”

With the British Embassy said to be

“braced” for a visit in August, it has not

‘Gaukeward

squad’ of

ministers quit

in unison

By Anna Mikhailova

DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

THREE ministers yesterday timed

their resignations around the an-

nouncement of Boris Johnson’s leader-

ship victory.

David Gauke tweeted during Mr

Johnson’s acceptance speech that he

will be on the back benches from today

after quitting as the justice secretary.

He was followed by Rory Stewart,

one of Mr Johnson’s leadership rivals,

who confirmed he will also be a back-

bench MP from today. Mr Gauke and

Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, will

formally hand in their resignation let-

ters to Theresa May today after her last

Prime Minister’s Questions.

Anne Milton, an education minister,

quit the Government shortly before

the Conservative Party announced Mr

Johnson’s victory.

Ms Milton surprised MPs by first ap-

pearing in front of a Commons select

committee and then publishing her

resignation letter. She said she had

“grave concerns” about a no-deal

Brexit. On Monday, Sir Alan Duncan

quit as a Foreign Office minister, saying

he would not serve under Mr Johnson.

One Tory MP yesterday described

the resignations as “pathetic” and ac-

cused ministers of “throwing their toys

out of the pram”.

Another said: “Some colleagues in

the ministerial bubble have lost per-

spective. Colleagues will take a dim

view of their actions.” The MP said re-

signing on the same time as his speech

was “a sign of ego”, adding: “We have

got to pull together”.

Mr Gauke said that it had been an

honour to serve in the Cabinet but that

he was “looking forward to returning

to back benches”.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today

programme, Mr Gauke said: “There is a

clear majority in the House of Com-

mons that doesn’t want to leave the EU

without a deal; I think that will become

very clear in the autumn.”

Meanwhile Mr Hammond responded

yesterday to the news of Mr Johnson’s

victory, saying he had his “whole-

hearted support” in seeking a deal with

Brussels. The Chancellor has played a

growing role in opposing no deal.

This week, Mr Johnson held meet-

ings with Mr Hammond, Mr Stewart

and Mr Gauke in a charm offensive

amid concerns that they will prove to

be a “nightmare” on the back benches.

Mr Stewart congratulated Mr John-

son and said: “Back bench tomorrow

[Wednesday] serving Cumbria. Thank

you all. More walking!”

Alok Sharma, who backed Mr John-

son, called for unity. He told BBC’s

Newsnight: “I hope what they will do is

reflect on the fact that the new prime

minister, if it is Boris, will actually have

a mandate from the parliamentary

party and from the membership. What

we will do if we have disunity in the

party is risk a Corbyn government.”

Ms Milton, Mr Hammond, Mr Gauke

and Mr Stewart abstained last week on

a vote on an amendment aiming to

make it difficult for Mr Johnson to sus-

pend Parliament in order to force

through a no-deal Brexit.

Ms Milton previously served as pub-

lic health minister, minister for women

and was the first woman to serve as

deputy chief whip.

She said in her resignation letter: “I

have always believed that our depar-

ture from the European Union should

be centred on future cooperation and I

had hoped we would have been able to

leave the EU in March with a deal in

place. I regret that this was not possi-

ble. However, I have grave concerns

about leaving the EU without a deal,

and so I feel it is time for me to return

to the back benches.”

STEFAN ROUSSEAU/BLOOMBERG

New leader has three months to save our party and our great country

I

t has long been obvious that the

only person who has the ability

to resolve this Brexit impasse

and get us out of the EU is Boris

Johnson. That Boris has been

elected by two-thirds of the

party membership, at a time of

national crisis, is vital because he has

a clear mandate to take us out of the

EU by Oct 31.

It has, I believe, become an

uncomfortable fact for some who want

to stop Brexit that David Cameron

made it clear that the British people

would decide whether we left the EU.

The subsequent failure of the

Government to deliver on that pledge

has led to a crisis of trust with the

British public and the very damaging

creation of the Brexit Party.

That is why Boris was so

unequivocal in the campaign that we

leave by Oct 31 or we will be punished

by the voters who, buffeted by

Parliament’s indecision, are both

angry and desperate for us to deliver

on that pledge.

Now he has been elected, the

challenge really begins. Put simply,

our new prime minister has 100 days

a group of my colleagues, many

ministers, have said they might vote

against a Boris-led government in a

vote of confidence. The simple rule I

have always followed is that, no matter

how much you are at odds with your

party, you support it in a vote of

confidence. This surely becomes

clearer as we look across at the angry

faces of the Marxist leadership of the

Labour Party. Would we really wish to

risk putting them in government?

The task ahead of Boris is enormous

enough without being undermined,

yet if we support him the

opportunities for us are also

enormous.

You don’t have to take my word for

it. Just look at this from a recent

Joseph Rowntree Foundation study of

low income voters: “The Tories have

considerable potential amongst [low

income voters] because they are closer

to low-income voters on issues like

Europe and crime. If the Conservatives

switch toward an economic message

that has more resonance among

low-income voters they could unlock

even more support.”

Boris is right, we must leave the EU

by Oct 31 and put Brexit behind us.

We can then unite the country and

defeat Corbyn. After that, I believe the

best is yet to be.

Iain Duncan Smith is a former leader of

the Conservative Party

These issues were covered by Boris

during the campaign and he must be

prepared to deliver on them,

particularly his pledge to help

middle-income earners and the

poorest trapped in high taxes. Yet we

all know that these 100 days will be

dominated by Brexit.

However, even as I write this, I am

concerned that over the last few days,

to save not only my party but, even

more importantly, our great country.

To do that, he needs to show that

our number one priority is to be ready

to leave, deal or no deal by Oct 31.

This will take real determination

and leadership.

We have all watched with growing

anger as the necessary preparation to

leave has been blocked. Revealingly,

Martin Selmayr, the EU secretary

general, recently admitted that they

knew the UK was unprepared for a

no-deal Brexit. That alone meant that

the UK’s negotiating hand was

non-existent. After all, if we weren’t

prepared to leave without a deal, then

it followed that we would take

anything from the EU. Sadly that’s

what we ended up with.

To avoid that sort of “cap in hand”

humiliation, Boris will need to ensure,

first, that he has colleagues around

him who are as determined as he is to

deliver on his pledge to leave and that

preparation is a top priority – a

Churchillian “Action this Day”. Vitally,

the engine of government – civil

servants – must also be signed up to

this objective and he must make it

clear to them that they, as much as the

politicians, must deliver this project.

Of course, his government cannot

only be about Brexit. It will need to

have a full reforming agenda on areas

such as policing, defence, social care,

social justice, education and taxation.

Iain Duncan Smithcan Smith ‘The task

ahead of

Boris is

enormous

enough

without

being

undermined,

yet if we

support

him the

opportunities

for us are

enormous’

David Gauke has

resigned as justice

secretary over

no-deal Brexit fears

New Tory leader

receives resounding

support from

president ahead of

vital summits to

shape relationship

between UK and US

uToday: Exactly

100 days until

the UK leaves

the EU on

October 31

uTomorrow:

MPs break up

for the summer

recess

uFriday/

Saturday:

Mr Johnson

expected to give

a speech in the

north

uSaturday/

Sunday:

Mr Juncker

could be invited

to Chequers

uAugust 1:

Brecon and

Radnorshire

by-election

uEarly August:

Mr Johnson to

embark on a

tour of the UK

uMid August:

Mr Johnson

tipped to travel

to the US to

meet Donald

Trump

uAugust 24-26:

G7 summit in

Biarritz, France

uSeptember 3:

MPs return from

summer recess

uEarly

September:

Motion of no

confidence

expected to be

tabled by Labour

uSeptember

17-24: UN

General

Assembly

uSeptember 29

to October 2:

Conservative

Party

Conference

uOctober 17-18:

EU Council

summit

uOctober 31: UK

leaves the EU

‘They call Countdown 100 days until we leave the EU

him Britain

Trump. And

people are

saying that’s

a good thing’

yet been decided whether Mr Johnson

will meet the president at the White

House, his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida

or at one of his golf courses, such as the

Bedminster Club in New Jersey.

Two further meetings are then

expected at the G7 in Biarritz, France,

at the end of August, followed by

the UN General Assembly in New York

in September. The pair will also be ex-

pected to meet again at the 70th anni-

versary of  Nato’s summit in London in

December.

The move, which would see Mr

Johnson spend “quality time” with the

president over the summer, is designed

not only to cement their relationship

but also repair the damage of the Sir

Kim Darroch affair before beginning to

sketch out a post-Brexit trade deal.

Ivanka Trump, Mr Trump’s daughter

and one his key advisers, also tweeted

her congratulations, though she ini-

Gauke, Stewart and Milton

accused of ‘throwing their

toys’ as they opt to voice

protest from back benches

Rory Stewart

confirmed he would

quit his Cabinet role

to return to the

back benches

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