UK - Boris Johnson launched an excoriating attack on Theresa May's 'dithering' Brexit strategy today in his first Commons speech since quitting. The former foreign secretary exploded back into the political fray by lambasting her 'miserable' strategy as the Prime Minister struggles to contain open warfare in the Tory party. He complained that a 'fog of self doubt' had descended on the government after Mrs May's landmark Lancaster House speech on Brexit last year, and she had allowed negotiations with the EU to be dictated by questions about the Irish border.
In a devastating assault, Mr Johnson accused the PM of misleading voters about her intentions and putting the UK 'in limbo' with the Chequers plan she forced through Cabinet. Making a clear pitch for the top job without directly calling for Mrs May to quit, he added: 'It is not too late to save Brexit.'
The searing assessment - hailed as the 'speech of a statesman' by Jacob Rees-Mogg - could throw Mrs May back into turmoil just as she was hoping to limp into the summer parliamentary break. Mrs May was not in the chamber for Mr Johnson's statement, as she was struggling to defend her Chequers plan in a stormy encounter with senior MPs on the Liaison Committee on another part of the estate. She is also facing a showdown with restive Tory backbenchers at a private end-of-term meeting tonight.