Boris Johnson says he will take 'personal responsibility' for job losses under his alternative Brexit plan as leadership talk heats up

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Boris Johnson has said he would be willing to take ‘personal responsibility’ for jobs lost if Britain pursued his Brexit plan instead of Theresa May’s.

Mr Johnson did not categorically rule out standing against the prime minister in a potential contest – something he is expected to do – but said people do not want to hear about “leadership elections and personalities” right now.

The ex-cabinet minister said Ms May’s deal as it stands is an “absurdity” and that she would have to return to Brussels and renegotiate the controversial section on the Irish backstop.

It comes as Tory Brexiteer Esther McVey said she would run for the leadership if asked by colleagues, while ex-cabinet minister Dominic Raab also said he would not rule it out.

Pressure on Ms May and her administration will approach its peak this week, with leadership rivals jostling for position and some MPs suggesting she should resign if she heavily loses the vote on her Brexit deal on Tuesday.

But speaking to BBC 1’s Andrew Marr show, Mr Johnson was asked if he would take personal responsibility for lost jobs if his preferred course of action were perused.

He said: “Yes, of course I will. Do not underestimate the deep sense of personal responsibility I feel for Brexit, for everything that has happened. Do not underestimate how much I care about this.

“This is fundamental to our country and it absolutely breaks my heart to think that after all that we fought for, all that we campaigned for…everybody campaigned for, everybody believes in, that we should consign ourselves to a future in which the EU effectively rules us in many, many respects and yet we have no say around the table in Brussels. That is an absurdity.”

Sporting a tidier haircut than his trademark ruffled look, Mr Johnson said that at this point people wanted to hear about “a plan to get out of this mess,” rather than a leadership contest.

He also said reports that he already had offered ministerial jobs to MP colleagues in return for support for a leadership bid were “nonsense”.

But asked if he would rule out standing against Ms May for the leadership, he responded: “I will give you an absolute categorical promise that I will continue to advocate what I think is the most sensible plan.

“I’m going to offer you the most sensible plan to get out of this mess. A plan which by the way I think the British people want to hear about.”

Mr Johnson argued that the decision on what to do about the Irish border should be solved at the same time as talks on a future free trade deal, and that a substantial chunk of the £39bn the UK is set to pay to the EU should also be withheld until then.

On the risks that his plan could push the UK towards a no-deal Brexit, he said: “I don’t want no deal.

“We’ve got to be very clear about this. I don’t want no deal, I think what [Brexit secretary Steve Barclay] said just now about the challenges is correct. They are probably exaggerated, but there would be challenges.

“It’s only if you prepare to come out on world trade terms, only if the EU believes that we are serious and willing to negotiate with them as sovereign and equal partners, that they will do the great deal that I think we can do.”

There are said to be a large number of Conservative MPs who believe they have a shot at the Tory crown if Ms May quits or is pushed out in the coming days.

Speaking to Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Ms McVey said she is “looking for a person who can unite the party behind a Brexit deal.”

She said: “I have seen the array of people who have come forward at the moment and I think if we can all get behind one...for me the most important thing is not the personalities it is the deal.”

Asked if she would rule out running herself, she went on: “If people asked me then of course I should say, of course should give it serious concern and do it – if people asked me. But at the moment I’m looking at who is in the papers, who can we get behind, but it shouldn’t be about the personality it should be about the country.”

Ms McVey said she would support the prime minister if she were to go back to Brussels and try and renegotiate the deal, in particular around the Irish backstop and the £39bn ‘divorce bill’ that the withdrawal agreement accounts for.

Mr Raab was interviewed on the same show, and asked if he would rule out a run, he said: “I’ve always said I wouldn’t rule it out, but I’m just not going to get sucked in to that debate.

“The public and people watching this show would think it would be very self-indulgent to be engaging in that speculation.”

He would not comment when asked if he would stand aside for fellow Brexiteer Mr Johnson to run for the leadership.