Remainer Tory MPs to back ‘malleable’ Boris Johnson for Prime Minister in bid to soften or revoke Brexit
REMAINER Tory MPs are beginning to back Boris Johnson for leader as their best hope of softening or reversing Brexit altogether.
Having led the Leave campaign, the mop haired former Foreign Secretary has a bedrock of support from committed Brexiteer Conservative MPs.
But others across the parliamentary party are now joining up as they see Boris as “malleable” over the shape of Britain’s EU’s exit, The Sun has been told.
If Boris wins power, they now believe he is even likely to order a second referendum to unblock Parliament’s logjam, in the belief he’d win it again for Leave.
One Remainer senior minister on the verge of declaring for the former London mayor told The Sun: “Boris is malleable. Boris will do what is in Boris’s own best interests, as and when the time comes.
“If that means going ahead with a second referendum as the only way through the impasse, then that’s what he will do.
“Some colleagues who don’t see eye to eye with Boris see that as their best opportunity.”
'WITH OR WITHOUT A DEAL'
A series of prominent ministers who backed Remain in the EU referendum have this week come out to endorse Boris, including Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden, Transport minister Michael Ellis, and Treasury minister Robert Jenrick.
Critics also point out Boris is yet to unequivocally rule out holding a second referendum if he gets in to No10 since the contest began.
Instead, he insists he is “against it with every fibre in my body”.
Remainers’ growing public support for Boris risks undermining his credibility with hardline Tory Brexiteers from the European Research Group.
Many of its arch eurosceptic members are yet to declare for a candidate.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said that he wouldn’t agree to holding a new nationwide vote, and added: “Boris has been very clear with his plans for Brexit. We need to leave on October 31, with or without a deal”.
Meanwhile, fears were mounting that any new PM threatening to carry out a No Deal Brexit would face an immediate confidence vote in Parliament.
Labour’s Shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz said it was “vital” that MPs had the opportunity to test the new leader.
Sources claimed Boris Johnson’s team were already in talks with the DUP about shoring up the new Tory government.
A poll Thursday night revealed that Boris is most likely to win voters from Nigel Farage and triumph over Jeremy Corbyn at a general election.
Six in ten voters who back the Brexit Party or Ukip would be more likely to vote Conservative if Boris was PM. Just 31 per cent would back the Tories under Michael Gove, falling to 15 per cent for Jeremy Hunt.
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Leave and Remain voters thought that Boris was the best candidate to defeat Corbyn. The poll was conducted in the 48 most marginal Tory seats by CTF, a strategy firm run by Sir Lynton Crosby who has previously donated to Boris’s campaign.
Meanwhile, leadership longshot Matt Hancock will today pledge to raise the Living Wage above £10 an hour. He wants to go beyond existing government policy to ensure blue-collar Brits get more in their pockets.
Sources claim he will call for the wage to hit £10.21 by 2022.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is currently consulting on the rate.
The Sun Says
IT’S time for detailed plans from every Tory leadership contender: how, precisely, will you deliver Brexit?
The next PM will be picked not by voters but by Tory MPs and members.
So the country deserves more than rallying calls or vague assertions that they can succeed where Theresa May failed.
If No Deal is your strategy, so be it.
How will it happen without an election, since the Tories have no current majority for it and the Speaker Bercow will bust his considerable gut to prevent it?
If you aim to win new concessions from the EU — which are vital since Mrs May’s deal is dead — great.
But what is Plan B if they refuse?
Nothing matters more than defeating Corbyn and delivering Brexit.
And the former can’t happen without the latter.
One or two candidates have set out their stall. The rest must do so now.
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