Boris Johnson: Theresa May will win 'full-throated' support if she secures Brexit 'freedom clause' from Brussels
Theresa May is planning to fight for a "freedom clause" from Brussels in a move that will win the "full-throated" support of the entire nation if she succeeds, Boris Johnson says.
Writing in The Telegraph, the former Foreign Secretary says he has heard "from the lips of very senior sources" that the Prime Minister is planning to go to Brussels and renegotiate the Northern Ireland customs backstop.
Describing the plans as "unadulterated good Brexit news", he says an exit mechanism or sunset clause will "defuse the booby trap" and give the UK a "way out" to negotiate a Canada-style trade deal with the EU.
He calls on the Prime Minister to now publicly confirm her "change of heart" and reveal "exactly what the Government has asked for", including the detail of the "freedom clauses" she is seeking to secure from Brussels.
The European Union has repeatedly insisted it will not renegotiate the backstop, while Ireland's Foreign Minister said it "isn't going to change".
However, Mr Johnson says: "That backstop is dead, rejected by the biggest ever parliamentary majority; and that is why I hope and pray that I am right about the intentions of Number 10.
"If we mean it, if we really try, I have no doubt that the EU will give us the Freedom Clause we need. So now is the time to stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood and get on that trusty BAE 146 and go back to Brussels and get it.
"And if the PM secures that change – a proper UK-sized perforation in the fabric of the backstop itself - I have no doubt that she will have the whole country full-throatedly behind her."
Since quitting Cabinet over the Prime Minister's Brexit strategy, Mr Johnson has been one of her most prominent critics.
His intervention is likely to be seen by Downing Street as a signal that other Eurosceptics are prepared to soften their position and back her deal if she can
resolve the backstop issue. Mr Johnson and a number of senior Eurosceptics were invited into Number 10 in recent days to discuss the Prime Minister's plans.
He says in his article that "Team Freedom" -
which includes Mrs May's husband Philip and Julian Smith, the Chief Whip - have won out over
"Team Remain" in Downing Street.
The Government is expected to signal its intentions this week by supporting
an amendment tabled by Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbenchers, which calls for the backstop to be scrapped and replaced with "alternative arrangements".
The Prime Minister is understood to believe that if the amendment passes it will give her the "mandate" that she needs to go back to Brussels and change the backstop.
However The Telegraph understands that
Eurosceptics are pushing the Prime Minister to make a public statement about her approach in the Commons on Monday in order to secure their backing.
In giving his endorsement to the approach, Mr Johnson acknowledges that some will say he is "naive" and "point out that the backstop is not the only defect of the withdrawal agreement".
"They will say that we are all being gulled, and that there is a bait-and-switch plan to get MPs to back the deal on the condition that the backstop is removed," he says.
"And then somehow, alas, it will turn out that this condition was impossible to satisfy and all we will get, after weeks of talks, is another footling letter of “clarification” from Brussels.
"That is why we need to understand, now, what is behind these rumours of the PM’s change of heart. We need to know whether the Treaty really will be revised.
"We need to see the Freedom Clauses written down. We need to know exactly what the government is asking for – and we need to hear it directly from the Prime Minister herself."
However, Simon Coveney, Ireland's deputy prime minister, insisted there would be no changes to the Withdrawal Agreement.
Mr Coveney said the backstop was crucial in preventing a hard border.
He told the Press Association: "Peace and the Good Friday Agreement are more important than Brexit.
"Even in a no-deal Brexit situation every party and every MP in the UK will have a responsibility to ensure there is no return to a hard border and Northern Ireland is protected.
"That won't be easy and those who misrepresent the backstop don't have an alternative to it."
The Prime Minister will on Tuesday face a rebellion by around 20 Tory MPs - including ministers - over a back-bench amendment that will force her to request an extension of Article 50 if a deal cannot be reached.
In a bid to defuse the rebellion and ensure there are no resignations, Mrs May is considering making a commitment to holding a second meaningful vote on her Brexit deal within two weeks.
On Sunday night a dozen pro-European ministers including Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke held a conference call in which they agreed the move would help defer a potential rebellion.
Rebels believe that a "hard commitment" to a second meaningful vote will mean there is still enough time for another backbench bill extending Article 50, effectively deferring the rebellion until later this month.
Downing Street sources warned that the backbench bill tabled by Yvette Cooper, a Labour MP, could see Brexit delayed for years or cancelled entirely.
Lord Bew, one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement, warned that the Irish backstop would "turn the Good Friday Agreement on its head". He said it had enabled Ireland to "weaponise" the agreement and called for a sunset clause to ensure it is "time-limited".
