Boris Johnson considered RESIGNING during May's crunch meeting of her Brexit war cabinet at Chequers and issues new red line on diverging from EU laws....
Boris Johnson considered quitting during Theresa May's crucial Brexit war Cabinet meeting at Chequers.
The Prime Minister gathered her most senior ministers to thrash out the details of the Government's Brexit position at her country retreat.
But the crucial meeting nearly hit the skids amid a row over how much the UK should diverge from EU laws after we quit.
The Foreign Secretary - a leading Brexiteer - at one point feared that the PM was opting for a softer Brexit which would muzzle the UK's ability to draw up its own laws and innovate.
Allies of Mr Johnson reportedly said he was considering resigning from the Cabinet over the row during the course of the marathon discussions.
'For much of it he thought it was going in totally the wrong direction. He thought there might be a long walk home.'
It came as Cabinet tensions flared over how much the UK should diverge from the EU after Brexit.
Remainers, led by Chancellor Philip Hammond, have pushed for Britain to stay closely tied to EU rules and regulations.
But Mr Johnson has argued that Britain must be able to break free, draw up its own laws and innovate after the departures.
During the Chequers meeting Business Secretary Greg Clark clashed with Mr Johnson over the possible economic fall-out of diverging from EU laws.
The Foreign Secretary said divergence is crucial too allow innovation in the British market.
And he pointed out that laws in Brussels had stopped him form being able to change the design of lorries to make them safer for cyclists.
And he also pointed out they had banned one of Dyson's most powerful vacuum cleaners.
But Mr Clark said the British market may not be big enough for firms to be able to design products especially for it.
He told the gathering of top ministers and Brexit officials that up to 425,000 jobs in the car industry are at stake.
A minister told the newspaper: 'Greg had his Weetabix. He really roared. Boris was quite taken aback.'
Ministers in the end agreed that Britain would would be able to diverge from EU laws - but with a pledge to continue to keep high standards, or voluntarily opt to sign up to some EU laws.
But Mr Johnson has now issued a new Brexit 'red line' - insisting that the promise on divergence struck at Chequers must not be watered down, and that divergence can start when trade talks begin.
A source said: 'Boris makes no distinction between the offer and our bottom line. This is what we must get.'
The Tory frontbench has been deeply split over what direction to take Brexit in - with leading Eurosceptics backing a clean break and Remainers wanting closer ties.
But the meeting at Chequers, which kicked off in the early afternoon on Thursday and lasted until around 10pm, finalised a plan.
Ministers agreed to a four-point plan, which was presented to the group by the PM's head Brexit official Ollie Robbins.
It agrees that when trade talks with the EU kick off in March the UK will say the EU and UK should mutually recognises standards in goods traded.
The Government will make a public declaration that Britain's standards will remain high in a move they hope will dispel fears Brexit will trigger a 'race to the bottom' in standards.
They will pledge to keep rues and regulations 'substantially similar' but they will also make it clear that the UK can diverge from EU laws - and call for the creation of a new dispute resolution mechanism to rule on the area.
This will mean the UK will become free of the European Court of Justice.
Ministers also agreed that Britain would continue to be associate members of Eu agencies in areas like aviation.
But they also agreed that they could break free of these at any point - allowing the UK to carve out its own path.
Mrs May now has to try to get Brussels to sign up to her plan aid objections from Eurocrats.
Some critics in Europe say the plan on divergence amounts to 'cherry picking' and say the UK should not be allowed to get what it wants.
Insiders at the meeting said Mrs May balanced the conflicting opinions and rivalries in her Cabinet well during the orchestrated meeting.
Ministers arrived at the country retreat at around 2pm with Brexiteers fearful about what lay ahead after a Government statement, issued the day before, had appeared to allow the Brexit transition period to last longer than the promised two years.
But when Mr Robbins outlined the four-point plan Remainers and Brexiteers both said it was something they could sign up to.
After the plan was outlines the PM immediately to Mr Johnson for his opinion - with the Foreign Secretary reportedly saying: 'It answers the requirement to take back control of our laws.'
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