Theresa May 'cross' after Boris Johnson calls on PM to 'chuck Chequers'

Theresa May has said she is ‘cross’ with Boris Johnson after he received a rapturous reception at the Tory party conference and called on her to ‘chuck’ her Chequers Brexit deal.

The former Foreign Secretary’s highly anticipated speech drew perhaps the biggest audience in Birmingham.

And he got the loudest cheer when he used his platform to demand the Prime Minister scrap her current negotiating strategy, which he branded an ‘outrage’ and claimed was cheating the British public.

Calling Mrs May’s plan ‘dangerous and unstable’, he said: ‘Do not believe that we can somehow get it wrong now and fix it later – get out properly next year, or the year after. Total fantasy.

‘Chequers provides the perfect logic and argument for those who want Britain to return to the EU, and is therefore a recipe for continued acrimony.

‘Now is the time truly to take back control and make the elegant dignified and grateful exit the country voted for. This is the moment – and there is time – to chuck Chequers.

‘If we get this right, it can be win-win for both sides of the Channel.

‘If we get it wrong – if we bottle Brexit now – believe me, the people of this country will find it hard to forgive.

‘If Chequers is agreed, then it will only embolden those who are now calling for a second referendum.’

In response, the Prime Minister said she had not watched the speech but was “cross” and frustrated about some of the things he had said.

She said: ‘There are one or two things that Boris said that I’m cross about. He wants to tear up our guarantee to the people of Northern Ireland.

‘Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. We are all – he and I and all members here are members of the Conservative and Unionist Party. That’s because we believe in the Union of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is part of that Union.’

Mr Johnson also urged the UK’s Brexit negotiating team to:

• scrap the Commission’s ‘constitutionally abominable’ Northern Ireland backstop

• use the ‘redundant and miserable’ implementation period to negotiate the super Canada free-trade agreement

• invest in customs procedures that would ensure frictionless trade

• prepare for coming out on WTO terms

Mr Johnson has been increasingly linked to a potential leadership challenge against Theresa May.

In interviews last week, he did little to dampen the speculation by refusing to rule out a bid, but today appeared to distance himself little further from such a move.

He thanked the chancellor Philip Hammond for saying he would never lead the party, calling his comments ‘the first Treasury forecast in a long time that has the distinct ring of truth.’

The turnout for Mr Johnson was quite remarkable, with delegated queuing for two hours to bag a seat.

They watched Mr Johnson attacked Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party, and expressed concern that Tories are losing confidence in freedom.

The MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip told delegates that housing offers a ‘massive opportunity’ for their party.

“If we rise to the challenge, if we get it right, it is an open goal,” he said.

“Labour’s instincts actually clash in a fundamental way with the instincts of ordinary people.

“Worse still, Labour’s political interests, which centre on the building and control of state-owned housing, are diametrically opposed to the interests of most families.”

He also called for the reintroduction of stop-and-search in a veiled dig at the Prime Minister, who reduced the use of the policy during her tenure as Home Secretary.

Theresa May has sought to play down the significance of Mr Johnson’s speech, which has been widely viewed as the beginning of a bid to oust her.

The Prime Minister’s decision to announce her long-awaited immigration policy late in the evening before Mr Johnson’s speech was seen by some as an attempt to steal the media spotlight away from her most high-profile critic.