Opponents of Brexit ‘collaborating’ with EU

Boris Johnson has accused MPs “who think they can block Brexit” of a “terrible collaboration” with the EU. The prime minister said the EU had become less willing to compromise on a new deal with the UK because of the opposition to leaving in Parliament. He said this increased the likelihood of the UK being “forced to leave with a nodeal” in October.

But some MPs said his claim they were collaborating with the EU was a “wicked lie” and a “big deflection exercise”. The EU has said the agreement struck by Theresa May is the only deal possible. Speaking during a Facebook event hosted at Downing Street, Mr Johnson said he wanted to leave with a deal but “we need our European friends to compromise”.

“There’s a terrible kind of collaboration as it were, going on between people who think they can block Brexit in Parliament and our European friends,” he added. “The more they think there’s a chance that Brexit can be blocked in Parliament, the more adamant they are in sticking to their position.” A No 10 source accused Mr Hammond of undermining the UK’s negotiating stance, and said he “did everything he could” to block preparations for leaving whilst he was in office.

The former chancellor rejected this suggestion in a tweet, saying he wanted to deliver Brexit “and voted to do so three times”. Labour MP Mary Creagh said Mr Johnson’s accusation that MPs were collaborating with the European Union was a “wicked lie”. “MPs trying to stop his catastrophic no-deal Brexit are true patriots,” she tweeted. Liberal Democrat MP Chuka Umunna said Mr Johnson’s claim was a “big deflection exercise to divert attention from the damage his Brexit policy is already doing”.