Boris Johnson calls for ‘courage’ to break from EU rules in swipe at new Brexit deal

Boris Johnson fired a shot across the bows at Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal with the DUP as he insisted Britain must have the “courage” to break with EU rules.

The former prime minister said the UK “must at all costs avoid a return” to the bloc’s orbit, which he warned would be a “disastrous” outcome.

His remarks came hours before No 10 was set to publish a new agreement with the DUP which Eurosceptics fear will hamper Brexit freedoms.

Mr Johnson made the remarks in a social media post to mark the fourth anniversary of Britain leaving the EU’s single market and customs union.

He wrote: “Four years on from Brexit we celebrate the restoration of this country’s democratic power to make its own laws and rules.

“We must retain the appetite and the courage to diverge from the low-growth high-regulation European model.

“We must at all costs avoid a return to anything remotely like the disastrous ‘Chequers’ formula whereby artificial concerns about the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland are used to keep the whole of the UK in alignment with EU rules.”

Lord Frost, the former Brexit negotiator, said he agreed with Mr Johnson’s concerns.

“The whole of Europe, not just this country, needs huge amounts of deregulation and market-focused reform if it is to start growing again,” he said.

“Brexit has given us the opportunity to get ahead of that process and, however falteringly, it has in fact already begun. It should not be slowed further.

“We wait to see whether the latest changes to the Windsor Framework, when they are published later today, justify further concerns in this regard.”

Mr Johnson’s intervention will heighten fears in Downing Street that Eurosceptic Tory MPs are preparing to rebel and vote against the new deal.

Mr Sunak is already facing unrest from Brexiteers within his party over plans to rush the agreement through the Commons with minimal scrutiny.

Eurosceptics are concerned the pact, which they fear will hamper Britain’s ability to diverge from the EU, is set to be railroaded through in little more than 24 hours.

Senior backbenchers are pressing the Prime Minister to slow down the process and allow them more time to scrutinise and propose changes to the agreement.

Downing Street has been put on alert that Tory MPs are prepared to vote against the deal if it contains any provisions that will effectively tie Britain to EU rules.

Senior Eurosceptics fear proposals for a screening process for regulations will lead to civil servants kiboshing any attempts to make use of Brexit freedoms.

Under the plans, revealed by The Telegraph, all new laws that apply in Great Britain will be checked to ensure they don’t create trade barriers with Northern Ireland.

Tory MPs are concerned that the deal, which amounts to “significant constitutional change”, is set to be forced through the Commons with minimal scrutiny.

Theresa Villiers, a former Northern Ireland secretary, said she was “troubled” by the speed of the process and No 10 must allow more time for a debate.

“It is vital that there’s nothing in the deal which prevents Great Britain from diverging from EU rules,” she told The Telegraph.

Ms Villiers said she was ‘troubled’ by the speed of the process – Geoff Pugh for The Telegraph

“The danger is that some kind of screening process could be used by Whitehall to make it more difficult to diverge. That is going to be vital criteria that MPs really will need to consider.”

She added: “I appreciate the need for rapid progress but feel a degree of frustration that something this significant is all intended to be done and dusted in two days.

“I also find it surprising that what could be some quite significant constitutional change is going to be done by delegated legislation.”

Sir Bill Cash, a veteran Eurosceptic backbencher, said the deal contained “extraordinarily important and significant constitutional changes”.

“The speed with which this is happening is not commensurate with the importance of the subject matter and not seeing the text at this stage merely intensifies this problem,” he warned.

“The question is what does it say, what are its implications, what are the issues of constitutional significance – including issues of parliamentary sovereignty – and why is it being dealt with by a Statutory Instrument rather than primary legislation?”

Robin Millar, the leader of the 70-strong Conservative Union Research Unit group of backbenchers, warned ministers that “good law is not made in secret”.

Writing for The Telegraph he said: “Conservatives are used to testing ideas through debate – discarding the weak and the bad, retaining the good and useful,” he said.

“At the very least, constitutional change must be given time and space on the Commons Order Paper for proper debate.

“Details must be published to allow timely scrutiny, debate and, if needs be, amendment.”

Mr Sunak has struck a deal with the DUP to end the party’s two-year boycott of the Stormont assembly in protest at the Irish Sea border.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the Unionist party’s leader, has said it is ready to return to Stormont after securing guarantees about Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.

He praised Mr Sunak for delivering the deal over the Irish Sea border, while taking a swipe at Mr Johnson.

He told BBC Radio Ulster on Wednesday: “Boris Johnson promised us a lot of things. He didn’t deliver them. Rishi Sunak has worked with us. In fairness and with credit to Rishi Sunak he delivered where others haven’t.”

Mr Sunak told the Commons that a deal to end the DUP boycott and restore the Stormont assembly will create a “brighter future” for Northern Ireland.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman added afterwards that the agreement will make “significant changes” by eliminating most customs checks in the Irish Sea.

“It will build on the Windsor Framework and establish protections to preserve the UK’s internal market in the long term,” he told reporters.

Ministers have insisted nothing in the agreement will block Britain’s ability to diverge.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland Secretary, told Cabinet it will “ensure that the whole of the UK can benefit from and seize Brexit Freedoms together”.

The Government is set to publish an 80-page “command paper” on Wednesday afternoon which will lay out the details of the deal. Tory MPs have been told there will then be a debate and vote on Thursday.

Ministers will then table a Statutory Instrument (SI) to write parts of the agreement into law, including the new screening process for all new legislation.

It is the same mechanism No 10 used to pass the Windsor Framework, which sparked Tory anger and saw Mr Sunak suffer a significant Commons rebellion.

Fully-fledged legislation takes at least a week to pass the Commons, with MPs given several debates and the opportunity to propose and vote on amendments.

In contrast, SIs are attached to a parent act – in this case, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act) of 2018 – and can be pushed through with a short debate and a confirmatory vote.

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