Senior Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale has called on Boris Johnson to step down as prime minister if he fails to secure a trade deal with the European Union. Repeat, a senior member of Johnson’s Party has said what is on everyone’s mind – he should lose his job for bungling Brexit, which will likely prove catastrophic for Britain.
Sir Roger Gale, Member of Parliament for North Thanet, said that if Johnson cannot iron out a free trade agreement by the end of the transition to Brexit, he will have “failed the people of the United Kingdom.” He should stand aside and make way for “somebody more able to pick up the pieces.” He would no longer be tenable as Prime Minister.
A day after Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen postponed, yet again, the latest deal deadline, Sir Roger said, “If Mr Johnson fails to reach an acceptable trade agreement with the EU, the prime minister will also have failed the people of the United Kingdom. As a lifelong member of the Conservative Party, I believe that Mr. Johnson’s position as prime minister would be untenable. As an honorable man, he would have to make way for somebody more able to pick up the pieces, to re-unite the whole country and to show the leadership that Great Britain and Northern Ireland deserves.”
Sir Roger then told the BBC that he wanted a free trade agreement that was “acceptable” for the UK, and not “any old deal.” He believes that failure to deliver on this would amount to breaking Johnson’s promise made to voters at last December’s general election. “The Prime Minister promised very clearly to the British people at the election that a deal would be easy to achieve and that the deal would be delivered. I believe that deal is in the interest, both of the United Kingdom and the European Union. And I want an acceptable deal to be reached. If the Prime Minister fails, yet again, to keep a promise. And I believe at that point his position does indeed become untenable. As an honorable man, he would have to do as David Cameron did, of course, after the referendum and make way for somebody else.”
Brexit happens on December 31st – just 16 days.
Sir Roger, a long-standing critic of Boris Johnson, is one of the Conservatives’ longest-serving MPs – having served in the House of Commons since 1983. He is also a former vice-chair of the Party. He is the first serving Tory MP to call on the Prime Minister to resign if he fails to reach a deal, but it is a safe bet that this is on the minds of many in the halls of Westminster.
There’s no denying Sir Roger’s antipathy to PM Johnson. He voted Remain in the 2016 EU referendum and has been a critic of a hard (no-deal) Brexit. He backed another candidate – Jeremy Hunt – in last year’s leadership election following Johnson’s treacherous engineering of Theresa May and her government’s downfall. So, his criticism of Johnson is nothing new and will likely not gain traction in the short term. But, as the double freight train of Brexit and Covid-19 barrels into full speed on Britain, both might likely be deadly, giving credence to Sir Rogers’ position and forcing the idea from a handful on the Tory benches into the mainstream of the Party.
All bets are on. As port congestion piles on, prices soar from tariffs and supply shortages, critical shortages lead to real hardship, and the true costs of Brexit bear down, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be lucky to survive the summer.
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