Britain’s Boris Johnson accused of Brexit ‘back seat driving’

London: Britain’s foreign minister, Boris Johnson, was accused by cabinet colleagues on Sunday of “back seat driving” on Brexit after setting out his own vision of the country’s future outside the European Union (EU).

Only days before Prime Minister Theresa May is due to speak in Italy about Britain’s planned EU departure, Johnson on Saturday published a 4,300-word newspaper article that roamed well beyond his ministerial brief and, in some cases, the approach set out by the government.

Interior minister Amber Rudd said it was “absolutely fine” for the foreign secretary to intervene publicly but that she did not want him managing the Brexit process.

“What we’ve got is Theresa May managing that process, she’s driving the car,” Rudd told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.

Asked if Johnson was back seat driving, she replied: “Yes, you could call it back seat driving, absolutely.” Johnson’s article re-ignited speculation that he would challenge May for the leadership of the Conservative Party.

Rudd, however, said she did not think Johnson was laying the groundwork to challenge May.

“I think that he, like I, supports the prime minister at this difficult time as we try to conclude the negotiations with the EU,” she said.

May’s deputy, Damian Green, said also weighed in on Sunday, saying that Johnson had written a “very exuberant” article but it is “absolutely clear to everyone that the driver of the car in this instance is the prime minister”.

“It is the job of the rest of us in the Cabinet to agree on a set of proposals and get behind those proposals and get behind the prime minister,” Green told BBC TV.

Johnson had written in the Daily Telegraph that Britain would not pay to access European markets in the future. Once out of the EU, the country should borrow to invest in infrastructure, reform the tax code and set immigration levels as it sees fit, he said.

A prominent Brexit campaigner in last year’s referendum, Johnson also repeated the controversial claim that the government would be £350 million (Dh1.7 billion) a week better off outside the EU.

With some colleagues angered by the timing — Johnson’s article was published a day after a bomb injured 30 people on a train in London — he later added on Twitter: “Looking forward to PM’s Florence Speech. All behind Theresa for a glorious Brexit”.