The crisis worsens for Boris Johnson, who loses his Brexit minister


British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a press conference on the Covid-19 vaccination in London on December 15, 2021 (POOL / AFP / Tolga Akmen)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sinks further into the crisis on Sunday, after the surprise resignation of his Brexit minister, at the end of a week marked by a sling in his own camp and an electoral fiasco.

The immediate departure of David Frost, 56, precipitated by the revelation of the information on Saturday evening by the Mail on Sunday, immediately leaves a void on the British side as the difficult negotiations with the European Union on the implementation post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland are not complete.

Two years after his electoral triumph over the promise to achieve Brexit, Boris Johnson 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 occasion of 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.

David Frost, then still British Secretary of State for Brexit, in Brussels on November 19, 2021 (AFP / Archives / JOHN THYS)

It is also facing a surge in Covid-19 cases, due to the extremely contagious Omicron variant.

In his resignation letter, made public on Saturday night by Downing Street, 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.

Health Minister Sajid Javid on Sunday told Sky News “to understand the reasons” which led David Frost, “a man of principle”, to leave the government.

– “Decisive moment” –

Former Northern Irish Prime Minister Arlene Foster at the British Conservative Party Congress in Manchester on October 3, 2021 (AFP / Archives / Oli SCARFF)

On Times radio, the former Northern Irish Prime Minister Arlene Foster, pushed to leave in April because considered too moderate, judged the departure of David Frost “very, very disappointing”, believing that he “understood” the problems created by the new post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland.

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 estimated Saturday evening that it was for Boris Johnson of 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”.

According to the influential Conservative Home website, “it is impossible to interpret such a formal attack on Boris Johnson’s record other than as, at least, cooperation 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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