Johnson to Call for United Front With Labour Against May's Brexit Plan - Reports

Former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Jonson will give a speech on Tuesday to the governing Conservative Party, urging it not to bend to Labour Party demands and instead believe in Conservative values.

During the Conservative Party Conference on Tuesday Johnson, who quit the government as a result of a disagreement with the current British Prime Minister Theresa May, will urge the party to “believe in Conservative values”, Reuters reported, citing excerpts from his speech.

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A well-known Brexit supporter, Johnson is reported to be creating his own leadership platform with senior members of the Conservative Party, trying to win over support against the current leader, May, who is struggling to deliver her vision of a Brexit plan both to EU negotiators and members of her own party.

“We should set our taxes to stimulate investment and growth. We should be constantly aiming not to increase but to cut taxes,” he will say. “It is the conservative approach that gets things done, so let’s follow our conservative instincts.”

According to the excerpts from his speech, Johnson would oppose May’s stance and call for a united front over Brexit with the left-wing Labour Party, who deprived the Conservatives of a parliamentary majority during last year’s general elections.

“We must on no account follow (Labour leader Jeremy) Corbyn, and start to treat capitalism as a kind of boo word. We can’t lose our faith in competition and choice and markets but we should restate the truth that there is simply no other system that is so miraculously successful in satisfying human wants and needs,” Johnson will say.

In order to hold their position as the UK's governing party and form a government, the Conservatives had to enter into a coalition with the small Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Arlene Foster, DUP’s leader claimed she would like to see a more positive and determined vision of the UK post-Brexit. “What we want to see, and I’m not making a comparison between Boris and the prime minister, is belief. We want to see that spirit,” she told the Daily Telegraph, adding that she would work with any leader of the Conservative Party.

The next general elections are scheduled for 2022, however, there is still a possibility of an early vote if the Brexit negotiations fail or if parliament votes down any deal. Johnson, as a part of his campaign against May, reportedly said that if he becomes the prime minister, he is going to delay Brexit by six months to prepare for a no deal scenario. 

Under the current legislation, the UK should leave the European Union on March 29, 2019, which leaves the UK PM May and the government with less than six months to come up with a plan. The current negotiations with the European Union's representatives has reached an impasse over the issue of the introduction of customs checks on the Nothern Ireland border.