UK: Brexit, Major and Blair hit out at Johnson. Tory rebellion against PM

(London) “Showdown”, “Rebellion”, “Tory rebellion”. The crisis within the conservative party this morning gets the place of honour in the British press, becoming the top news ahead of COVID both in the progressive “The Guardian” and the conservative newspapers “The Times” and “The Daily Telegraph”. Indeed, many distinguished politicians say they are against the legislation proposed by Boris Johnson, that is being discussed in Westminster today, aimed at overriding key parts of the Agreement signed by the prime minister with the EU. Two former ministers, John Major and Tony Blair, hit out at Johnson’s bill in an article published in “The Sunday Times” yesterday. Boris Johnson is “embarrassing” the UK, Major and Blair wrote. And they went on to say: “This government’s action is shaming itself and embarrassing our nation”; it is “irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice”. “We urge MPs to reject this legislation”. Former attorney-general Geoffrey Cox, who was top legal advisor when the Withdrawal Agreement was signed by Boris Johnson, also joined the rebellion together with dozens of Tory MPs who have pledged to vote down the bill. Johnson signed the Agreement, so “our honour, our credibility” “all rest upon us keeping that word”. Jonathan Jones, the government’s most senior legal adviser, also resigned a few days ago over Johnson’s proposed bill.
Valentina Bombelli