The British government was thrown into a fresh round of turbulence on Friday as Jo Johnson, the brother of Boris Johnson and the country’s Transport Minister, resigned unexpectedly and lashed out at the direction of government negotiations on Brexit, describing it as the country’s worst instance of statecraft since the 1956 Suez crisis.
In marked contrast to his brother, who remains firm that leaving the EU without a deal would be no bad thing, and resigned because he believed the deal being negotiated was too soft, Mr. Jo Johnson called for a second referendum.
The choice being presented to the British people was no choice at all, he said in an online article, announcing his resignation. The deal being negotiated with Europe by the government — dubbed the “Chequers Deal” — would leave Britain economically weakened with no say in EU rules it would have to adhere to for years, while a “no deal” scenario would inflict damage on the country.
“To present the nation with a choice between two deeply unattractive outcomes, vassalage and chaos, is a failure of British statecraft on a scale unseen since the Suez crisis,” he wrote, adding that from the work of his own Department he was aware that a no-deal scenario could threaten the country’s access to fresh food and medicine.
Mr. Johnson is the MP for Orpington, a town in the south eastern county of Kent that threatened to become a “lorry park” in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
An affront
While the majority of his constituents voted to leave the EU, he rejected the idea that a vote on “what an idealised Brexit might offer” versus what was being delivered in reality, matched up to what many had voted for, describing the current state of things as an affront to democracy.
His resignation follows controversy on Thursday after Brexit Minister Dominic Raab faced ridicule over admitting that he “hadn’t quite understood” how dependent the U.K. was on the Dover-Calais crossing for its trade.
The resignation of such a high-profile figure, just days after Britain suggested it was close to a deal is seen as hugely significant. potentially leading to other Conservative MPs and Ministers speaking out in favour of a second referendum. “More resignations on the cards under any circumstances I would think,” predicted David Henig, a former senior civil servant at the Department of Trade. Conservative MP and vocal proponent of a second referendum Anna Soubry welcomed Johnson’s move and urged others to speak out to. “Now is the time for people to stand up for what they believe in or we will sleepwalk to a #Brexit disaster. There is another way.” While Johnson’s resignation is likely to spur critics in the Conservative Party, securing a second referendum would also require support from the Labour Party, which is yet to fully clarify its stance on a referendum and what that could entail in terms of the question put to the public. While in September senior party figures indicated support for a second referendum couldn’t be ruled out, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell indicated that it was only the terms of leaving that could be put to the public rather than whether Britain should exit or not.
“Depends on Labour now,” tweeted Henig. “We know a General Election is their first choice, question becomes what is their second choice - exit or referendum. If the latter, that's the game changer.”
