Boris Johnson has alluded to Nigel Farage as a threat to the UK, putting him in the same category as known Marxist Jeremy Corbyn, and said that only he can save the country.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Johnson said: “I truly believe only I can steer the country between the Scylla and Charybdis of Corbyn and Farage and onto calmer water. This can only be achieved by delivering Brexit as promised on October 31 and delivering a One Nation Tory agenda.”
Scylla and Charybdis were a pair of sea monsters from Greek mythology who sat on either side of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the Italian mainland.
In the wide-ranging interview, Boris said that he will aim to take the UK out of the bloc on October 31st and will withhold the £39 billion withdrawal payments reportedly owed to the EU until better terms are negotiated, including ditching the ‘backstop’ preventing a so-called hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
However, EU Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said that no such renegotiation will be possible. In a stark warning to the Conservative Party leadership hopefuls, he said that renegotiation was not an option, whether to alter the backstop or anything else. In a press conference in Slovakia on Friday, Mr Barnier said that the withdrawal treaty agreed with Theresa May was “the only one possible”, adding: “A new prime minister will not change the problem.”
Despite being a leading figure in the Brexit campaign, many have urged wariness of Boris Johnson for his reputation as a notorious careerist and his apparent willingness to change his views to suit his ambitions. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said last week that he had some “quite serious concerns” over Johnson, pointing out that Johnson had voted for Mrs May’s withdrawal agreement on the third time of asking despite previously rejecting it.
It was reported by The Sun last week that remainer MPs had begun to be won over by Boris as they saw him and his views as “malleable”. One senior Remain minister said: “Boris is malleable. Boris will do what is in Boris’s own best interests, as and when the time comes. If that means going ahead with a second referendum as the only way through the impasse, then that’s what he will do. Some colleagues who don’t see eye to eye with Boris see that as their best opportunity.”
As well as referring to Nigel Farage in the same breath as hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Johnson also shunned a meeting with President Donald Trump during the President’s state visit last week — despite the President saying that Johnson would make a “great prime minister” and offering a meeting between the two — thus further calling into question Mr Johnson’s political stances.
As it stands, Johnson is currently the favourite to take over from Theresa May as Conservative leader and prime minister.
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