Boris Johnson voted against Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal on Wednesday after telling The Telegraph the proposals would keep the province “captured by the EU legal order” and were “not acceptable”.
Liz Truss, Priti Patel and Sir Iain Duncan Smith also all confirmed that they would vote against the deal, meaning at least three former Tory leaders – Mr Johnson, Ms Truss and Sir Iain – opposed the plan.
Mr Johnson told The Telegraph: “The proposed arrangements would mean either that Northern Ireland remained captured by the EU legal order – and was increasingly divergent from the rest of the UK – or they would mean that the whole of the UK was unable properly to diverge and take advantage of Brexit.
“That is not acceptable. I will be voting against the proposed arrangements. Instead, the best course of action is to proceed with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and make sure that we take back control.”
The decision saw Mr Johnson reprise the role he adopted during the final year of Theresa May’s premiership, when he put himself at the front of a group of Tory MPs voting against her Brexit proposals.
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