Don’t underestimate Boris Johnson, PM’s adviser tells Brussels
Boris Johnson’s EU adviser has urged Brussels not to “underestimate” the new Prime Minister as he repeated the government’s pledge to leave the bloc on 31 October.
David Frost, a former adviser to Johnson while he was foreign secretary, said many people were “inclined” to underestimate Johnson but that doing so would be a mistake.
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In a leaked email seen by the BBC, Frost said told EU sherpas to pay attention to Johnson’s first statement to the House of Commons, in which he repeated his pledge to leave the EU on 31 October and confirmed the government would rapidly ramp up plans for a no-deal exit.
“I would also add that many people are inclined to underestimate Boris Johnson and I would urge you not to do so,” Frost said.
“You should be in no doubt about this government’s commitment to the 31 October date,” he added.
In his speech to the House of Commons on Thursday, the day after he officially became Prime Minister, Johnson told MPs that it was his government’s “mission” to deliver Brexit.
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The Prime Minister called on the EU to “rethink” their refusal to make changes to the withdrawal agreement and to abolish the Irish backstop – the insurance policy designed to prevent a hard border in Ireland by keeping the UK in a temporary customs union with the EU – saying a time limit was “not enough”.
Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney labelled Johnson’s approach “very unhelpful” and said the new Prime Minister appeared to have embarked on a collision course with the EU that would prevent an orderly exit from the bloc in October.