Boris Johnson compares Chequers deal to ‘suicide vest’ as open warfare between top Tories breaks out

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Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has deepened bitter divisions within the Conservative Party this morning, after claiming that Theresa May’s Brexit plan would put the UK constitution in a “suicide vest”.

The damning jibe provoked a furious backlash among a number of senior party figures, laying bare the current internal splits that Tories face as they return to Westminster following the summer break.

Alan Duncan, a former deputy to Johnson in the Foreign Office, said that the comment was “one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics”.

Cabinet heavyweight Sajid Javid also expressed his frustration on the BBC this morning, saying: "I think that there are much better ways to articulate your differences."

Foreign affairs committee chair and former army officer Tom Tugendhat said: "A suicide bomber murdered many in the courtyard of my office in Helmand. Comparing the PM to that isn't funny."

https://twitter.com/TomTugendhat/status/1038535110482698240

In an article for today’s Mail On Sunday, Johnson wrote that the Chequers deal, which would see the UK remain closely aligned to Brussels on goods and regulation, had opened the country to "perpetual political blackmail".

He added: "It is a humiliation. We look like a seven-stone weakling being comically bent out of shape by a 500lb gorilla."

Read more: Cabinet heavyweight says Chequers plan is only deal on the table

The latest comments from Johnson, who resigned from his Cabinet post in July over Downing Street’s Chequers strategy, are likely to fuel further speculation around Johnson’s possible leadership ambitions.

Current foreign minister Alistair Burt also weighed in on the anger over Johnson’s comments, tweeting that there was "no justification for such an outrageous, inappropriate and hurtful analogy".