[Ignitionnet]

A couple of articles discussing what Johnson may be up to.

https://goo.gl/msZiSA

Boris is back. For the last year, the UK’s ebullient foreign secretary has been a disconcertingly quiet member of Theresa May’s government. His failure to have any impact in one of the great offices of state is not entirely his fault. His job was a trap. In the wake of his failed leadership bid last summer, he had little choice but to accept the offer of a cabinet position. Mrs May’s gamble worked: she carved his job into three, with David Davis handling Europe policy and Liam Fox taking on trade. Mr Johnson has seethed at both his lack of input into the Brexit process, and his diminishing public persona.

That detente is over. His audacious decision to pen a 4,000-odd word opinion piece for the Telegraph can be interpreted in several ways — nearly all of them problematic for Mrs May. It could be a warning shot to Downing Street, reminding the prime minister that he still commands a significant following (albeit one that has been in rapid decline) and that softening Brexit risks fuelling the “Brexit betrayal” narrative. As the person most responsible for the UK’s departure from the bloc, Mr Johnson wants to see his vision fulfilled — including the notorious pledge for £350m for the National Health Service, reiterated in the article.

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Or, the intervention could be a prelude to a resignation. As the BBC reported on Friday, Mrs May has yet to square Mr Johnson on elements of her Florence address. According to one Cabinet minister, the foreign secretary has a significant difference of opinion on a transition period. He has been advocating a period of just six months, whereas Mrs May and his fellow ministers envisage two years. "Of all of us around the Cabinet table, Boris was the only one who protested at the length of the transition and he is the most paranoid that Brexit just won't happen" one minister says.

Those close to the prime minister have long thought he might walk away from government at a moment designed to cause maximum damage to the prime minister’s authority. If this is his second (and probably final) bid for the Conservative leadership, he would most likely become the voice of a “no deal” Brexit, arguing that the UK should walk away from the Article 50 negotiating process for leaving the EU because it is a waste of time and focus on new relationships elsewhere.

https://goo.gl/ys4heF

Boris Johnson has unleashed his discontent with Theresa May’s Brexit strategy, undermining the prime minister just days before she prepares to give a key speech in Florence.

In a lengthy article for the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson, the UK foreign secretary, roamed far beyond his ministerial portfolio and significantly deviated from the government’s stance on how Britain should leave the EU.

Crucially, he revived the Leave campaign’s pledge to spend up to £350m a week extra on the NHS — a pledge that Mrs May has explicitly rejected. He also warned against Britain paying a substantial exit bill, or continuing payments, to the EU, saying: “We would not expect to pay for access to their markets any more than they would expect to pay for access to ours.”

Will Tanner, who recently left as deputy head of Mrs May’s policy unit, said: “The real PM *just* raised threat level. Meanwhile, guy who wants to replace her issues a prelude to resignation, to save face over £350m.”

The article also suggested that, after Brexit, Britain should discard some environmental and social protections, borrow more to invest in infrastructure, and impose a tax on foreigners buying property. By contrast, Mrs May has said that workers’ rights will be maintained or strengthened, while Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has ruled out lowering environmental standards.

A spokesman for the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Johnson had “exposed the Tories’ real Brexit agenda — a race-to-the-bottom in regulation and corporate tax cuts”.