British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a press conference on the Covid-19 vaccination in London on December 15, 2021 (POOL / AFP / Tolga Akmen)
Boris Johnson is definitely experiencing a particularly trying end to the year: already weakened, the British Prime Minister lost his Secretary of State responsible for Brexit on Saturday evening, citing political disagreements.
After the information was revealed by the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Downing Street confirmed it by publishing David Frost’s resignation letter and the Head of Government’s response.
This departure comes at a time when the difficult negotiations with the European Union on the implementation of post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland have not been completed, in a particularly difficult context for Boris Johnson.
Two years after his electoral triumph over the promise to achieve Brexit, he finds himself surrounded by scandals and this week suffered a sling from his camp over measures against Covid-19 and then the loss of a conservative stronghold in the opportunity for a by-election in England. A vote triggered by the resignation of an elected official sanctioned for a lobbying affair, that Boris Johnson is accused of having wanted to protect, before backing down.
Lamenting that his resignation was leaked to the press, David Frost announced in his letter that it was effective immediately. According to the Mail on Sunday, Boris Johnson first managed to convince him to stay until January.
David Frost, then still British Secretary of State for Brexit, in Brussels on November 19, 2021 (AFP / Archives / JOHN THYS)
The newspaper points out that David Frost cited the new restrictions to fight the coronavirus, the tax hike and the policy followed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 to explain his departure.
“You know my concerns about the current direction of things,” David Frost wrote to Boris Johnson, stressing that, with Brexit assured, “the challenge for the government now is to realize the opportunities it gives us”.
Boris Johnson, meanwhile, said “sorry” for the resignation of David Frost, expressing his gratitude for the work he has done.
– “Total chaos” –
The Deputy Leader of the Labor opposition, Angela Rayner, reacted on Twitter by saying that the government was “in total chaos precisely when the country is going through weeks of uncertainty”.
“@BorisJohnson is not up to the task. We deserve better than this buffoonery,” she added.
In the ranks of the majority, the deputy Andrew Bridgen considered that it was for Boris Johnson a “decisive moment”. “He has to change or go,” he told Times Radio. On Twitter, this ardent Brexiter stressed that the head of government was “running out of time and friends to keep the promises and discipline of a true Conservative government”.
Former Northern Irish Prime Minister Arlene Foster at the British Conservative Party Congress in Manchester on October 3, 2021 (AFP / Archives / Oli SCARFF)
For the former Northern Irish Prime Minister Arlene Foster, pushed at the start in April because considered too moderate, the resignation is “enormous for those of us who believed that he would keep his commitments for Northern Ireland”.
According to the Conservative Home site, influential in the majority, “it is impossible to interpret such a formal attack on Boris Johnson’s record other than as cooperation, at least, in attempts to bring him down.”
A supporter of a hard line against the European Union, David Frost led the negotiations for London with the European Union on the Brexit agreement and then its implementation, especially concerning the application of the controversial protocol on the North Ireland.
The latter establishes a new customs regime for this British province, which de facto maintains it in the single market and the European customs union.
The United Kingdom and the EU have been leading bitter talks for several months to resolve their differences on the implementation of the text, effective since the beginning of the year. While David Frost has taken an inflexible stance in demanding that any recourse to European justice for the settlement of disputes be ruled out, the government recently seemed to soften its position on this matter.
A career diplomat, David Frost worked in Brussels in the 1990s and was Ambassador to Denmark from 2006 to 2008. He also headed the Scotch Whiskey Association (SWA).
© 2021 AFP
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