Boris Johnson attacks Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal saying it will not ‘take back control’

Boris Johnson attacked Rishi Sunak‘s Brexit deal for Northern Ireland today, saying that it would not ‘take back control’ and suggesting he could vote against it.

In a rambling London speech the former Prime Minister said it would find it ‘very difficult’ to back his successor’s Windsor Framework because it still gave the  EU too much of a say in Ulster.

Mr Johnson’s intervention came as Mr Sunak gathered Tory MPs at an awayday in Berkshire designed to help them win the next election.

But Mr Johnson’s intervention risks tearing apart the party yet again. He told the audience: ‘This is not about the UK taking back control’.

However he signalled that he believes the legislation is likely to pass when it comes to a vote in the Commons.

He used his keynote address at a soft power conference to also blast censorship of books by Roald Dahl – singing a song from the film of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the podium despite it not appearing in the original book.

Mr Johnson has claimed that when he was forced out as prime minister the Tories were ‘only a handful of points’ behind Labour in the polls. In actual fact the party was already 11 points behind.

He added: ‘I’m going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this myself, because I believed we should’ve done something very different. No matter how much plaster came off the ceiling in Brussels.

‘I hope that it will work and I also hope that if it doesn’t work we will have the guts to employ that (Northern Ireland Protocol) Bill again, because I have no doubt at all that that is what brought the EU to negotiate seriously.’

Mr Johnson conceded he made mistakes in signing his Northern Ireland Protocol that caused the DUP to walk out of powersharing because of trade barriers in the Irish Sea.

‘I thought those checks would not be onerous since there isn’t that much stuff that falls into that category; most of the goods stay in Northern Ireland,’ he said.

Muttering, the former prime minister added: ‘It’s all my fault, I fully accept responsibility.’

It comes as Mr Sunak’s deal leads to a minor bounce in the polls. His popularity has risen by 13 points overall, though he is still on -21, according to YouGov. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is on -11.

While about as many people have a favourable view of the leader of the opposition (37 per cent) as the prime minister, fewer people dislike him (48 per cent).

Mr Johnson raised numerous concerns about the Windsor agreement, adding: ‘I’m conscious I’m not going to be thanked for saying this, but I think it is my job to do so: we must be clear about what is really going on here.

‘This is not about the UK taking back control, and although there are easements this is really a version of the solution that was being offered last year to Liz Truss when she was foreign secretary.

‘This is the EU graciously unbending to allow us to do what we want to do in our own country, not by our laws but by theirs.’

Mr Johnson is among those expected to attend the 24-hour trip to Windsor that will feature lectures and even a pub quiz, days after his successor secured a deal with the EU over Northern Ireland.

He will try to reinvigorate the party as it languishes some 20 points behind Labour in the polls  after a year of three prime ministers and a series of economic and sleaze scandals.

The Tories have booked out the entire £400-per-night Fairmont Hotel for a series of lectures, drinks receptions and a dinner with the PM, where the 355 or so MPs can dine on Hereford beef, Atlantic cod and roast Scottish salmon.

But one of the key figures of that time is expected to be absent. It is understood Liz Truss, who was briefly in No10 last year, will not be attending.

Mr Johnson is expected to travel to Berkshire after his speech.

The intervention comes as tensions rise in the DUP, after leader Jeffrey Donaldson said he would take time to consider the details of the package – potentially even until after local elections in May.

Ex-leader Peter Robinson said rejecting the deal would put the DUP on ‘perilous ground’, although he suggested ‘a better deal could be attained in the future’.

However, DUP chief whip Sammy Wilson said it was ‘not a great deal’, arguing that the new ‘Stormont Brake’ might never be used to block the introduction of future EU laws in the province.

Former deputy leader Lord Dodds said the pact keeps the border down the Irish Sea and does not guarantee free trade with mainland Britain.

A report set to be published today by a group backed by DUP MP Ian Paisley is also expected to say the agreement does not meet the DUP’s seven tests.