Boris Johnson can NEVER be Prime Minister because the rest of the party won’t trust him again, says Tory grandee Norman Tebbit
Veteran peer said the Foreign Secretary 'couldn’t demand loyalty from his colleagues' following the chaos caused by his decision to publish his bombshell Brexit blueprint
OUTSPOKEN Boris Johnson is too “disloyal” to be leader of the Tories now, party grandee Lord Tebbit claimed this morning.
The veteran peer dismissed the Foreign Secretary’s chances of taking over as Prime Minister – as he called on the party to unite around Theresa May.
He stormed: “Suppose he was to bring down the Prime Minister, and suppose he were to get in Number 10, what would his position be?
“He couldn’t demand loyalty from his colleagues.”
It came as seething Tory backbenchers said there were hardly any MPs who think Mr Johnson could move into Number 10 following the chaos caused by his decision to publish his bombshell Brexit blueprint.
One told the Sun: “It was a desperate act by someone with an ego saying ‘I’m still here, remember me’.
“He’s getting a lot of criticism.”
Lord Tebbit told the BBC the bitter divisions in the party stem from the fact there was no agreed line endorsed by Cabinet.
He said: “If there is a songsheet, then you expect everyone to sing from it. But if there is not a songsheet, then people sing their own songs.
“I think that the leadership is not well organised, that’s the thing.”
David Cameron’s former spin chief Sir Craig Oliver renewed his attack on the Foreign Secretary at the weekend, it emerged today.
Speaking at the Chiswick Book Festival he said he was “slightly perplexed by Boris’ journey to a hard Brexiteer”.
He repeated the story of Mr Johnson’s last minute decision to make up his mind to back Leave on the eve of the Referendum.
And he added: “His mind was not made up, this was not a clear decision for him.
“I find it quite strange that he’s become so far right in that period, and I find it weird he’s resurrected the whole £350 million argument again.
“It’s a very odd thing to do. But has he decided as a political his future is based on hard Brexit? Yes he has.”
