Boris Johnson ‘could QUIT by the weekend’ if Theresa May ignores his Brexit demands as he gears up for showdown with PM in New York
Foreign Secretary told reporters he wasn't throwing in the towel and the cabinet was a 'nest of singing birds'
BORIS JOHNSON's friends have said he could QUIT by the weekend if Theresa May doesn't accept his Brexit demands - as the Foreign Secretary gears up with a showdown with the PM later today.
Allies told he won't "can't live with" a soft-Brexit 'Swiss-style' arrangement and could resign from his post.
But he was forced to deny the claims earlier today when he was stopped by reporters after heading back from a morning run in New York.
"I'm not walking away," he said. "Its all going very, very well. We're going to deliver a fantastic Brexit."
He was asked directly if he would resign, and replied: "No.";
Mr Johnson insisted the cabinet was a "nest of singing birds" over Brexit - despite days of infighting about our EU exit.
And friends immediately stepped up to claim the reports he would quit as "totally untrue".
When sister Rachel Johnson, at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth, was asked if he would step down, she said: "I have no idea, he's in America!"
His father Stanley said he thought that Boris would be "happy to walk away from the whole thing" if he couldn't deliver the kind of Brexit he felt Britain deserved.
Asked whether he was planning to quit his job yesterday, Boris said: "I think you might be barking up the wrong tree."
But he went on to say: "When the burden of office is lifted from my shoulders I will of course look back with great pride on my time doing all sorts of things."
The PM's spokesperson said this afternoon she had confidence in her Foreign Secretary and she expected him to remain in the cabinet because they are "all going in the same direction" on Brexit.
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And Mrs May told Sky News that ";Boris is doing good work as Foreign Secretary."
But asked if the pair were set to meet in the Big Apple as they attend the UN, she said: "I’ll be seeing Boris at various stages during our time here.
"But of course we’ve both got very busy programmes – as have the other six Government ministers who are here."
She added: "The Cabinet is absolutely clear about the destination we’re aiming for when it comes to our European negotiations."
Downing Street has reportedly been keeping an eye on the politician as he was said to be unhappy in his role.
And a crisis cabinet meeting is planned for Thursday morning ahead of the key speech in Florence.
Mr Johnson will meet Theresa May today at the UN summit in New York, where world leaders will hold a range of
bilateral talks.
But earlier he said the pair had yet to have a chat.
They will see each other for the first time since Boris published his 4,000-word blueprint for Brexit on Saturday, which he described as an "opening drum roll" for the PM's speech later this week.
Seen as an open challenge to Mrs May by some, the mop-headed politician called for Britain to spend up to £350m more on the NHS after we get the extra cash back when we leave the EU in 2019.
But she rebuffed his advances yesterday in a fierce slap down and refused to commit to any extra cash.
Cabinet unity crumbled further following Home Secretary’s Amber Rudd’s weekend accusation that Boris Johnson was “back seat driving” when the PM said: “This government is driven from the front.”
And yesterday The Sun revealed that the Foreign Secretary has fears that the EU will play so hard with Britain that Brexit talks will fail and we will be forced to walk away with no deal.
He's told friends that it's vital the Government should prepare to walk away - even if it humiliates Mrs May.
Boris told one close friend recently that “nobody ever beats the EU in a negotiation”, and the Brussels elite will again succeed in grinding down the PM and force her to accept bad terms.
The senior Tory’s thinking explains why he is pushing Mrs May to keep to a hard line in talks and not give away big sums of money or agree to trade restrictions.
It came in yet another chaotic day for the Government – just 96 hours before Theresa May’s critical Brexit speech in Florence on Friday.
- Vote Leave flagbearer Dominic Cummings accused Chancellor Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Amber and senior mandarins of lobbying for a Soft Brexit that would see the UK paying contributions to the EU for years to come.
- Boris Johnson reiterated there was no way Britain should be pay “extortionate” sums for access to the EU single market when we leave as “they wouldn’t pay for access to our market”.
- Brexit backers accused David Davis of siding with Philip Hammond – sparking a vicious counter attack with one ally of the Brexit Secretary saying: “It’s all Hammond’s scheme.”
- The top civil servant at the Brexit department – Oliver Robbins – left to take up a new role in Downing Street after a series of reported rows with Brexit Secretary David Davis.
- And the Brexit department’s Head of Trade and Partnerships, career civil servant Antony Phillipson, was said to be moving to a new post as Consul General in New York.
- Separately Michael Gove – who fell out with Boris Johnson over the Tory leadership – waded into the row to back him over his claim Britain can save £350 million a week by leaving the EU.