Boris Johnson resigns: what will happen with Brexit?

“If Boris goes away, Brexit goes.” The sentence is from Lord Michael Heseltine, former deputy prime minister and conservative minister, one of those who forced Margaret Thatcher to resign and declared himself a pro-European.

“Tarzan”, as he was called because of his long blond hair, declared himself “toxic” to the current Conservative party. But he believes that Boris Johnson’s departure is “an opportunity to regain ties with the European Union”, in the face of the global crisis due to the war in Ukraine and the economic, supply and employment tragedies that Brexit has generated. .

Lord Michael Heseltine assured that “if Boris goes, Brexit goes”, urging the next leader of the Conservative Party “to renew ties with Brussels”.

The former Deputy Prime Minister and pro-European Lord said Boris Johnson’s exit from the government could lead to “a reshuffle of relations with the European Union, as this was the key policy that fueled”.

He also warned that “extreme anti-Europeanism and the right” would be a “suicide course” for the Conservative Party under the current circumstances.

European enthusiasm

The first answer came from Michael Barnier, the French and Brexit negotiator, on Twitter.

“The departure of Boris Johnson opens a new page in relations with Great Britain. That it is more constructive, more respectful of the commitments made, particularly with regard to peace and stability in Northern Ireland, and friendlier with partners in the EU. Because there is so much more to do together, “Barnier said in his tweet, which was mentioned by all British commentators.

Heseltine’s comments come later a tragic week for Boris Johnson and the Brexitierwith 38 resignations of ministers and a forced resignation of the Prime Minister, who must be replaced by another.

The race for the new leadership will begin next week but the candidate will take time to get to August or September, unless the 1922 Committee, the party’s top organ, speeds up the pace.

Heseltine’s statements were simultaneous with the letter from Sir John Major, his Tory partner in the House of Lords, who also defends a reconciliation with Europe.

A kingdom isolated from Brexit

In his years in office, Boris implemented Brexit and the kingdom was isolated, without the trade deals with the United States it had promisedunder the threat of putting an end to the Protocol of Northern Ireland, which marks the border between Ireland and Great Britain and which it wants to eliminate, without manpower because they do not have access to the single European market.

Many conservatives like Heseltine believe that the only way to survive the kingdom, to solve the shortage of labor, the absence of products and medicines, is to regain the link with the European single market, as before Brexit.

The problem is that it implies the free movement of people and would resume the migration between Europe and the kingdom, which Brexitier they wanted to remove. Migrants are the obsession of white British lower-middle-class professionals Brexitier because they think they will take his job away.

But today 64% believe that “Brexit is going very, very badlyand suffer the consequences.

The “legacy of Boris”

Lord Heseltine believes that “Boris is a thief”. That’s why he will surely take advantage of his time in Downing St – until the next prime minister arrives – to celebrate his legacy of him, speed up the measures it wanted to take and the party does not accept: from tax relief to subsidies.

It will accentuate “Johnsism”, which may or may not be anti-European, pro or anti-Keynesian, but it will certainly not be pro-Tory because Boris has no other belief than to remain in power.

In the time he has left, he will face the parliamentary Tory party, which has expelled him. He will have neither limits nor mercy. The fear is that he will irreversibly remove the Northern Ireland protocol.

At least 58 ministers and youth from Johnson’s senior team have resigned, with dozens of lawmakers saying they can no longer serve under his leadership. But Boris started replacing them the next day and an hour after his resignation, he called his first cabinet meeting Prime Minister resigned.

A deputy premier?

“It is absolutely clear to me that we need a deputy prime minister to act in the interregnum before a new prime minister is elected,” Lord Heseltine told Sky News.

“It is quite obvious that Boris Johnson, if he is allowed to stay, will try to get a set of policies that will strengthen his position. It’s unthinkable, “he clarified.

“The conclusion here is that Boris is associated with an important policy, and this is Brexit. I coined the phrase: ‘If Boris goes, Brexit goes,’ said Lord Heseltine.

“For me, the big and interesting dilemma is how Keir Starmer got these anti-European speeches wrong, as he did, on the grounds that he would fight Boris Johnson,” he said.

Labor leader Keir Starmer has assured his electorate that he will not return to Brexit nor to the single market so as not to further divide the country, if it comes to power after the general elections. For Heseltine, that promise is a grave mistake.

return to sanity

“Now, of course, the Tory party will have to find a new leader. My belief is that there will be a return to sanity towards our policies on Europe, which will make Keir Starmer look, I think, rather silly,” said Heseltine. .

Lord Heseltine said a new leader must be appointed very soon prevent Johnson from “manipulating and manipulating power in the last days of his mandate.

He does not believe that the next prime minister “will try to bring Great Britain back to the EU”, but rather will try to establish a “more positive relationship with Europe”.

“If they don’t,” said Heseltine, “the Conservative Party risks losing seats to the Liberal Democrats who want to rejoin the EU.”

Public opinion believes Brexit was a “disaster,” he said. “The extreme anti-Europeanism and right wing is a suicidal path for the Tory Party in the context of the economic circumstances we face,” said Heseltine.

For him Boris Johnson was “a disastrous prime minister in the conduct of the nation’s affairs” and “destroyed” the reputation of Britain and the Conservative Party.

“I think his colleagues should have acted more decisively and sooner,” he said.

route change

Boris Johnson spoke this Thursday, ahead of his resignation speech, about changing the economic course and implementing tax cuts, which with all the requirements to decide who wins and who loses, would amount to a dramatic repositioning of his government.

Surely this type of decision would need the support of the next premier, whose identity may not be known until the end of August or September.

The global crisis, the high cost of living, the cost of fuel, the war in Ukraine are terrible issues and the emergency gives autonomy, even to a provisional prime minister like Boris.

Hence the urgency to replace him quickly to reposition Great Britain in Europe.

Paris, correspondent

CB