Johnson faces backlash for his ‘Brexit article’

Bloomberg ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

UK lawmakers called for Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to be fired after he threw himself back into the Brexit debate with a newspaper article that was seen as undercutting Prime Minister Theresa May days before she is set to refresh her own strategy for the split.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph a day after a failed bomb attack in London, the figurehead of last year’s campaign to leave the European Union outlined what he called a “glorious” vision for the UK outside of the bloc, prompting criticism he is undermining May and possibly reviving his own leadership ambitions.
“It puts Theresa May in an impossible position, I can’t understand why she hasn’t fired him,” Vince Cable, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said on the BBC. “He has a completely and utterly different view of what Brexit means from the rest of the cabinet,” he said, adding that the “civil war” in May’s government will hamper talks with the EU.
Unidentified lawmakers within May’s Conservative Party were cited by newspapers, including the Mail on Sunday and the Observer, as demanding Johnson’s ouster for a move seen as a bid to replace her. Ruth Davidson, the party’s Scotland leader, tweeted that “on the day of a terror attack where Britons were maimed, just hours after the threat level is raised, our only thoughts should be on service.”
First Secretary of State Damian Green, effectively May’s deputy, told Sky News that Johnson will not lose his job over his intervention or its timing. He insisted May’s government is united in its determination to deliver Brexit.
Johnson argued that the UK should not pay to access Europe’s single market for goods and services after Brexit, countering an idea suggested as possible by Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and Brexit Secretary David Davis. He also revived the much-criticised claim that by leaving Britain will free up $476 million a week to spend on healthcare.
Seeking to paint Brexit as positive for the UK economy as it shows signs of weakening, Johnson said quitting the EU would allow the government to strike new trade deals, revamp the tax system, reboot infrastructure projects, advance science and improve access to housing.
“This country will succeed in our new national enterprise, and will succeed mightily,’’ he said, dismissing any suggestion that Brexit will be reversed.

British firms urge May to seek 3-year Brexit transition
Bloomberg

British business leaders urged PM Theresa May to seek a three-year transitional period after Brexit, warning failure to secure more time would jeopardisse “our collective prosperity.”
In a letter organised by the Confederation of British Industry, executives from 120 businesses with more than one million employees again warned of a so-called cliff edge in which Britain leaves the European Union in March 2019 without a new trade deal or enough time for companies to adjust. Signatories included representatives of Centrica Plc, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd., Johnson & Johnson and Harrods.
“Our businesses need to make decisions now about investment and employment that will affect economic growth and jobs in the future,” according to the letter. “Continuing uncertainty will adversely affect communities, employees, firms and our nations in the future.”
While May’s Cabinet seems to have struck an agreement to push for a transition, there remains disagreement over how long it should run. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has sided with business in suggesting three years, while others such as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Trade Secretary Liam Fox are reported to favour a shorter timeframe. May is set to update her Brexit strategy next Friday in a speech in Florence, Italy, days after Hammond recommended a “status quo” transition.
“Businesses are deeply concerned about Brexit and getting more so by the day,” Carolyn Fairbairn, the confederation’s director general, wrote in a letter in the Sunday Times. “After three rounds of Brexit talks marked by hardball headlines and snail’s-pace progress, the prospect of ‘no deal’ in March 2019 feels all too real. The costs of this are serious.”
EU leaders have said they are open to discussing trade and a transition, but first want to resolve differences over citizens’ rights, a financial settlement and Ireland’s border. Only after “sufficient progress” has been made on those topics are they willing to open trade talks, with doubts growing that the milestone will be reached in October as once hoped.
In the UK, 40 percent of firms are reducing or delaying investment in response to Brexit uncertainty, Fairbairn wrote.