Boris Johnson hits back at Theresa May after post-Brexit ‘moral failure’ accusation
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The Prime Minister refuted Ms May’s remarks, claiming Britain had a promising year ahead. Writing in the Daily Mail, the former Prime Minister suggested Mr Johnson failed to honour British values by threatening to break international law in Brexit negotiations.
She also called on Mr Johnson to return to a foreign policy centred on a “Global Britain”.
Mr Johnson defended his policy during Prime Minister’s Questions as MPs grilled him on the allegations.
He told the Commons that “when it comes to global leadership on the world stage, this country is embarking on a quite phenomenal year.”
He added: “We have the G7 and Cop26, and we have already led the world with the Gavi summit for global vaccination, raising $8.8billion (£6.5billion).”
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Mr Johnson’s spokesman said he disagreed with Ms May’s depiction of him in the bombshell article.
The spokesman echoed Mr Johnson’s remarks, adding that “the UK is and will continue to be an outward-looking nation, and will continue to be a leading voice on the international stage.”
In the scathing article, Ms May also pointed out Mr Johnson’s Internal Market Act, which originally breached the already agreed upon Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union, and his refusal to commit to spending 0.7 percent of GDP on foreign aid.
She wrote: “Threatening to break international law by going back on a treaty we had just signed and abandoning our position of global moral leadership as the only major economy to meet both the 2 percent defence spending target and the 0.7 percent international aid target were not actions which, in my view, raised our credibility in the eyes of the world.
“Other countries listen to what we say not simply because of who we are, but because of what we do.
“The world does not owe us a prominent place on its stage. Whatever the rhetoric we deploy, it is our actions which count.
“So, we should do nothing which signals a retreat from our global commitments.”
Ms May has previously opposed Mr Johnson’s actions, becoming a fierce critic during the Brexit negotiations of Mr Johnson’s approach to the EU.
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Despite voting for the UK/EU trade agreement on December 30, Ms May warned Mr Johnson over the deal.
After highlighting how she was “disappointed” over no financial services provisions in the agreement, the former Prime Minister told Mr Johnson: “Sovereignty does not mean isolationism.
“It does not mean we never accept someone else’s rules.”
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