EU, UK officials issue cautious congratulations to Boris Johnson

Brussels is not giving Boris Johnson an inch.

Within minutes of his being announced as Conservative Party leader and the next British prime minister, the former mayor of London was offered a reminder of the tough road ahead on Brexit from Michel Barnier.

“We look forward to working constructively w/ PM @BorisJohnson when he takes office, to facilitate the ratification of the withdrawal agreement and achieve an orderly #Brexit,” the top EU negotiator said on Twitter.

“We are ready also to rework the agreed declaration on a new partnership in line with #EUCO guidelines.”

The message will be a blow for Johnson, who has vowed throughout his leadership campaign to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement Theresa May hammered out with Brussels, not just the Political Declaration.

Barnier will meet the European Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group Wednesday to discuss how to respond to the change of administration in the U.K., according to Parliament’s Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt.

New European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at a press conference, said: “I think it’s very important to build up a strong and good working relation because we have the duty to deliver something which is good for people in Europe and in the United Kingdom. So I am looking forward to working with him.”

Rather than welcome Johnson, Macron started by thanking Theresa May for “the good work we have done together in the last years.”

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“She took office in a difficult context after the referendum and with a lot of courage and dignity, she worked all these years with us and never prevented the EU from functioning. And she tried her utmost to serve British interests,” Macron said.

The French president then congratulated Johnson on his victory, saying “I will call him once he will be officially PM … and I am very eager to work as fast as possible with him, not only on our European issues and the pursuit of negotiations that are linked to Brexit, but also on daily international issues” — citing Iran, and “international security.”

Johnson was given a warmer reception from outside the EU, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, who tweeted: “Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!”

Senior figures in the Conservative Party, who have been critical of Johnson’s vow to take the U.K. out of the EU by October 31 with or without a deal, had pointed messages for the prime minister-elect.

Chancellor Philip Hammond, who has said he cannot serve in a Johnson Cabinet and will resign Wednesday, said on Twitter: “Congratulations @BorisJohnson!” before adding in a thinly veiled warning that he still would not back a no-deal exit: “You have said very clearly that you are determined to do a deal with Brussels — and you will have my wholehearted support in doing so. Good luck!”

His Cabinet allies against no deal, Justice Secretary David Gauke and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, have also vowed to resign Wednesday, while former ministers Margot James, Alan Duncan and Anne Milton have already quit their posts.

However, May, in congratulating her successor, said he would “have my full support from the back benches,” noting that the country needs to “work together to deliver a Brexit that works for the whole UK and to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of government.”

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who had refused to support Johnson during the campaign out of concern that his Brexit approach could split the U.K., said he has an “enormous task ahead of him.”

She urged him to “deliver for Scotland within the U.K.” so she could hold off efforts by Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon to push for a second Scottish independence referendum.

The opposition

Sturgeon congratulated Johnson but vowed to do all she could to “block his plan for a no-deal Brexit — which would do catastrophic harm to Scotland.”

She added: “And I will continue to advance the preparations to give Scotland the right to choose our own future through independence, rather than having a future that we don’t want imposed on us by Boris Johnson and the Tories.”

She made the comments after a POLITICO-Hanbury poll found Johnson will struggle to win over Scots at a general election.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a general election as he argued Johnson has not “won the support of our country.”

“Boris Johnson has won the support of fewer than 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members by promising tax cuts for the richest, presenting himself as the bankers’ friend, and pushing for a damaging no-deal Brexit,” he said in a statement.

New Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said Johnson has shown “time and time again that he isn’t fit to be the Prime Minister of our country.”

“Whether it is throwing people under the bus or writing a lie on the side of one: Britain deserves better than Boris Johnson,” she argued.

And Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, whose electoral threat Johnson will have to counter to have any chance of winning the next general election, issued a warning.

“I wish Boris Johnson well as prime minister with his ‘do or die’ pledge to deliver Brexit on October 31,” he said in a statement.

“It is do or die not just for Brexit, but for the future of the Conservative Party too. Does he have the courage to deliver for the country?”

Business

Businesses gave the new Conservative leader a cautious welcome. Confederation of British Industry chair Carolyn Fairbairn told the victor that firms “share your optimism for the U.K.”

But she reiterated companies’ aversion to a no-deal: “On Brexit, the new prime minister must not underestimate the benefits of a good deal.

“It will unlock new investment and confidence in factories and boardrooms across the country. Business will back you across Europe to get there.”

Adam Marshall, director general at the British Chambers of Commerce, told the new Tory leader: “Companies need to know, in concrete terms, what your government will do to avoid a messy, disorderly Brexit on the 31st of October — which would bring pain to communities across the UK and disruption to our trade around the world.”

Edwin Morgan, the interim director general at the Institute of Directors, said it’s “crucial that the incoming administration recognises that this is a daunting time for many firms, and is prepared to back them.

“A no-deal Brexit would only add to the uncertainty and distract from these challenges, but avoiding a disorderly exit will enable the country to focus on them and move forward to everyone’s benefit.”

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