Theresa May blasts Boris Johnson’s Brexit rant after he says the Northern Ireland border doesn’t matter in leaked recording

THERESA May last night tore a strip off Boris Johnson for dismissing the importance of Northern Ireland in a secret rant to fellow Brexiteers.

The Prime Minister slammed the Foreign Secretary’s taped comments that accused the EU and Dublin of playing politics over the Brexit border headache.

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Mr Johnson stunned colleagues and enemies alike after a leaked recording revealed his explosive claim that the UK are “allowing the tail to wag the dog” and “allowing the whole of our agenda to be dictated by this folly”.

And he branded concerns over the tricky crossing headache “a folly” that has been allowed to overshadow Brexit.

But speaking in Canada, where the row threatened to overshadow her G7 visit, Mrs May hit back: “The border between Northern Ireland and Ireland matters.”

She went on: “It matters to people who live on both sides of that border, it matters to the United Kingdom because we want to ensure that we’re delivering a Brexit that works for every part of the United Kingdom and that includes Northern Ireland.”

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But pushed on whether Mr Johnson should be fired, Mrs May would only say: “People like Boris have strong views on Brexit but so do I.”

Her spokesman added: “the importance of the Northern Irish issue could not be clearer and has been a priority from day one”.

Chancellor Philip Hammond also ridiculed Mr Johnson’s comments made at a boozy dinner behind closed doors on Wednesday evening.

In his wide-ranging rant to donors Mr Johnson said Donald Trump would do a better job negotiating Brexit over than the PM, called the Treasury the “heart of remain” and urged Brexit-backers to “take the fight to the enemy”.

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Last night Mr Hammond said: “My experience has been that a collaborative approach is generally more productive than a confrontational approach.”

But Labour MPs and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon all called for Mr Johnson to be sacked for his incendiary claims.

But they delighted some Tories, who said Mr Johnson was right to let rip at the state of Brexit negotiations and took “great heart” in his words.

Ex-Minister Sir Gerald Howarth said many Leave voters are “alarmed and deeply despondent about the way they see things going” toward “a Brexit in name only.”

Meanwhile respected former Conservative leader Michael Howard called for a truce to bitter Cabinet civil wars, adding: “There were always going to be spills and thrills during the negotiation.”