A FORMER Cabinet minister and European commissioner has accused Boris Johnson of behaving like an English nationalist in his handling of the Brexit talks.
The ex-Conservative Party chairman Lord Chris Patten told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What we’re seeing is Boris Johnson on this runaway train of English exceptionalism and heaven knows where it is going to take us in the end.
“I want the best for my country, I fear for what’s happening at the moment and I fear for our reputation around the world, I fear for what will happen economically.
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“I hope that I’m wrong to feel so depressed about the outlook but I don’t think that Mr Johnson is a Conservative, I think he is an English nationalist.
“And all the things that Conservatives used to believe in – like standing up for the Union, like not attacking our institutions, like the judges, like believing in international co-operation – seem to have gone out of the window.”
Patten added: “While I hope for the best, as I said earlier I do fear for the worst because it is very, very difficult to see what the plan is, how we’re going to do so brilliantly when we’re out of this ‘cage’ of Europe – which we of course helped to build because the main constructor of the single market was Margaret Thatcher.”
It comes after both the UK and EU starkly warned that a No-Deal Brexit is becoming increasingly likely with a final deadline on reaching a trade deal set for tomorrow.
Johnson yesterday described a No-Deal Brexit as “very, very likely”, while European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said such an outcome was now more likely than not.
The Prime Minister’s request to speak with the German chancellor and French president also failed yesterday as Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron’s officials said all negotiations must be done through the commission.
A senior EU official said the call had been rejected as the commission should not be bypassed to discuss matters with individual leaders. The UK is not denying the claim.
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