Boris Johnson plots power grab of £13billion foreign aid as PM Theresa May ducks out of showdown
BORIS Johnson revealed he has mounted a fresh Whitehall power grab after Theresa May ducked a major Brexit confrontation with him.
The PM yesterday refused to shoot down the four Brexit red line demands her rebellious Foreign Secretary laid out on Saturday in an interview with The Sun.
And, as the row overshadowed Day One of the Tories’ annual conference in Manchester, she was slammed for even refusing to deny he was “unsackable” from the Cabinet.
In a move that will spark a fresh furore today, Boris told The Sun he wants Britain’s aid ministry to become part of his Foreign Office empire again.
Winning back control over the Department for International Development and its £13billion budget will be seen as a bid by Boris to expand his powerbase.
Mr Johnson, accused by some Tory MPs of being “on manoeuvres” to oust the PM, called the decision to divide the two "a colossal mistake".
Mr Johnson said: “It was a colossal mistake in the 1990s to divide DFID from the Foreign Office”.
Explaining his move, Boris added: “If we are going to be in this great global campaigner for free trade, then we have got to maximise the value of overseas engagements.
“Priti and I are now working much more closely with our departments.
“We now have double-hatted ministers, and are basically trying to bring the Foreign Office and DFID back together”.
Boris’s laying out of his four Brexit red lines were seen as a fresh challenge to Mrs May’s authority.
But she and her senior Cabinet allies went out of their way not to criticise him by name, for fear of stirring up a revolt from Brexiteers and the Tory right.
Asked on BBC1 Andrew Marr Show if Boris was now “unsackable”, Mrs May ducked giving any straight answer to instead say: “You talk about Boris’s job, you talk about my job.
“I think the people watching this programme are actually interested in what we’re going to do for their jobs and their futures.”
The PM also repeatedly refused to rule out Boris’s demand that Britain should refuse to accept any new EU laws during the two year-long transition period after Brexit in March 2019.
Mrs May would only say: “The point is we’re going into a negotiation. What I have is a cabinet that are united”.
Referring to her Brexit speech in Italy last week, she went on: “I had a Cabinet meeting before my Florence speech.
“Everybody agreed that the position the United Kingdom is taking was absolutely the right one.”
She continued: “Boris is absolutely behind the speech and the line we have taken.”
Asked as he arrived at the conference if he was “right behind Theresa May”, Mr Johnson answered: “Of course”. But it emerged he has told friends he thinks weakened Mrs May will not last another year in power.
Downing Street aides have tried to stop Boris from making another damaging Brexit intervention at the conference by giving his speech a slot on global Britain after the EU exit session on Tuesday.
But they fear he will stray into the controversial field and beyond the agreed cabinet line again anyway.
Lord Heseltine yesterday insisted Boris should be sacked for disloyalty.
The former Tory deputy PM said: “Boris is using his position within the Cabinet in order to cause difficulties.
“In any normal situation he would be sacked. But the Prime Minister’s weakness is such that she is between the devil and the deep blue sea.”
But Leave-backing Tory MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan hit back at him to say only “a dictator” would sack Boris.
First Minister Damian Green, the PM’s deputy, issued a plea for Boris to stop speaking out, but without naming him.
Mr Green said: “It is understandable that any group of politicians faced with a big issue will have a range of views.
“It is extremely sensible when you are in government to express those views in private rather than public.”
But pro-EU Scottish Secretary David Mundell did mount a dig at Boris. Asked how well Boris goes down with Scottish voters, Mr Mundell said: “I do recall that Boris Johnson once stood as rector of Edinburgh university.
“You can look at the results of that”.
Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson – seen as yesterday a rival successor to Boris as party boss - admitted the Tories are in the midst of a “psychodrama", but refused to get involved in it by parrying questions about him.
Tory grandees pleaded for an end to the fresh outbreak of infighting. The chairman of Tory MPs’ 1922 committee Graham Brady said: “It is important we unite and show discipline and prove we are focusing on the needs of the country, not the Conservative Party”.
The first day of the conference was also dogged by continued speculation about how long Mrs May would stay on as boss.
Former Tory chairman and senior MP Grant Shapps insisted “every serious person” knows Mrs May will not fight another election as party leader, despite her insistence that she will lead it into the 2022 vote.
Mr Shapps also blamed Mrs May’s failure of leadership for Boris’ insubordination, adding: “The big picture is what’s missing.
“When we see that, maybe ministers will then be able to unit around it and stop doing newspaper interviews.”
Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said: “It is clear the Prime Minister is now a hostage to the most extreme and irresponsible forces in the Conservative Party, and with Boris Johnson in charge of the rope and the keys we should all be very worried indeed.”
