The former UK Foreign Secretary and ardent Brexiteer, Boris Johnson, has said that the European Union (EU) will exploit the issue of the Irish backstop to "blackmail" the UK during future Brexit talks.
In his weekly column in the Telegraph, Mr Johnson has said that Theresa May's Brexit deal would be "detrimental" to the UK's bargaining position and future sovereignty, arguing that Britain is on the verge of becoming an "economic colony of Brussels."
"We will be legally and politically at the mercy of Brussels, since we will be obliged to accept all EU legislation, during the so-called implementation period," Mr Johnson wrote.
"Worst of all, the Irish backstop arrangement gives the EU an indefinite means of blackmail. They will be able to keep us locked in the customs union and large parts of the single market unless we are prepared to abandon Northern Ireland. They will use this blackmail to get their way throughout the negotiations, notably over the free movement of people," he added.
Mr Johnson also asserted that the UK is in need of a huge tactical change in its approach toward negotiating with Brussels, saying that: "if we agree this deal and unless we have a radical change in our approach to the negotiations we face an even greater humiliation in the second phase. We have not found a convincing unilateral way out of the backstop. Unless we discover some willingness to resist, the diet of capitulation seems set to continue for at least two years."
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