“[He has] his back against the wall to defend his country but also with his back against the wall the relationship with Europe should be clear”.
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The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has claimed the UK’s diplomatic relationship with European countries will “intensify” as Britain negotiates its exit from the European Union.
Johnson said he had had a “very, very busy” first day on the job, with U.S. counterpart John Kerry among the first to call with congratulations.
European Union countries have pressed Britain to move quickly to initiate the two-year divorce process to lift uncertainty.
There is widespread animosity in Europe toward Johnson who recently compared the EU’s aims to those of Adolf Hitler. Asked what he expected of working with Johnson, given such comments, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said – to laughter – “you see that it’s an advantage not to have such a great command of the English language”. “So I don’t know what you’re talking about”.
The foreign policy spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party in Parliament said Thursday that many current British suggestions for future relations with the European Union were “unworkable”.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says he would like negotiations on Britain’s exit from the European Union to produce a “highly integrated relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU”.
He said it’s “critical that negotiations take place in a pragmatic and transparent and smooth manner, where both sides demonstrate flexibility in order to produce results that are the right outcome, that have mutually acceptable and. amicable outcomes”.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Johnson said the past 2,000 years of European history had been characterized by repeated attempts to unify Europe under a single government.
Work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb, who had also sought the prime minister’s job, resigned citing family reasons, days after hitting front pages for allegedly sending flirtatious messages to a young woman despite being married.
Michael Fallon is to stay on as Defense Secretary following the changes at the top.
Justine Greening, formerly in charge of global development, is now education secretary and minister for women and equalities.
The betrayal by Mr. Gove, whose parting shot was to say that “Boris can not provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead”, stopped Mr. Johnson’s march on Downing Street before it had even started. “But I know it’s not good when irresponsibility is rewarded in politics”.
May’s spokeswoman said she had spoken by phone to European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, explaining that Britain would not be triggering the exit process immediately. And Donald Trump didn’t indicate his feelings about Johnson’s statement that he would avoid certain parts of New York City because of the “real risk of meeting Donald Trump”.
On Thursday she followed up by removing the justice, education, culture and cabinet office ministers, an unusually high toll of sackings for a British cabinet shakeup. One of the leading figures in the Brexit Leave campaign, Johnson was once seen as a possible prime minister himself, but failed to win the support of party colleagues.
May gave the farming ministry to Andrea Leadsom, another Brexit campaigner who had run against her for the Conservative party leadership.
Some observers said the job could play to Johnson’s strengths as a charismatic cheerleader for Britain – and that by corralling him in a position of responsibility, May could avoid the headaches of having him on the outside looking in.
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She has also fired Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, who backed Gove’s short-lived leadership campaign.
