By Ben Kerrigan-
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been accused of shocking complacency after telling Mp’s that the European Union can “go whistle” for any “extortionate” final payment from the UK on Brexit. Johnson’s accuser’s have taken issue with his statement which included a further statement that the government had no plans for a scenario of leaving The EU without a plan.
Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson, Tom Brake, said the foreign secretary’s remarks showed a “shocking level of complacency”.
“It is simply not good enough when people’s jobs, living standards and rights are all on the line,” he said.”People should be able to judge Boris Johnson on his actions not his words, with the chance to reject a disastrous Brexit deal and stay in the EU.” Boris Johnson had said that the government had no plan for what to do in the event of leaving The EU with no deal, promoting criticism from some Liberal and Labour Mp’s. Labour MP Chris Bryant added: “For the government to threaten to leave the EU with no deal, while boasting about not having no plan for that eventuality, is completely unacceptable.”
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Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson said: “The sums I have seen that they propose to demand from this country appear to be extortionate.”
“Go whistle seems to me to be an entirely appropriate expression,” he added.
The foreign secretary was responding to a question from backbench MP Philip Hollobone, who urged him to tell the EU they could “go whistle” if they wanted “a penny piece more” than the money the UK had already paid to the EU since 1973.
EU leaders have insisted that a divorce bill must be settled before a future trading relationship with the UK can be negotiated. Brussels are said to want up to 100bn euros to divorce the EU, an amount the government says is unreasonable, and it will not pay.
When asked if there was a private or public strategy for what would happen in the event of no agreement on Brexit, Mr.Johnson replied:
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“There is no plan for no deal because we are going to get a great deal.” Tom Brake is right that Mr.Johnson’s comments appear to be very complacent. Telling the EU to go whistle on the one hand, whilst insisting that Britain will get a great deal appears very presumptuous and arrogant. EU chiefs have demonstrated nothing but stubbornness and arrogance themselves for anybody in the British government to take for granted the achievement of a deal which has shown no signs of materialising yet.
Theresa May’s previous statement that ”no deal is better than a bad deal” may be true, but no deal may also be a terrible and disastrous scenario. Much depends on what overall picture the economic prospects of Britain will be in Brexit. President Trump has already promised Britain a great trade deal between the U.S and The U.K.
The most important thing is not whether the deal that eventually takes place put Britain in a position where we don’t need a deal with The EU. That depends on facts which economic experts are best positioned to speculate on. However, if Boris Johnson believes Britain will need a good deal with The EU despite the promise of President Trump’s ‘great’ offer, telling the EU to go whistle is no wise approach to achieving that.