(London) British Foreign Minister Liz Truss was appointed on Sunday to take over post-Brexit files, after the resignation of Secretary of State for Brexit David Frost, at the end of a particularly trying week for Boris Johnson.
Head of British diplomacy since September, Liz Truss, 46, will lead negotiations with the European Union on the controversial protocol governing specific customs arrangements in Northern Ireland, according to a statement from the British Prime Minister’s services.
“Liz Truss will assume ministerial responsibility for relations with the European Union with immediate effect”, specifies the text.
European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said on Twitter that he “would continue to cooperate with the UK in the same constructive spirit”.
After first defending staying in the European Union during the 2016 referendum, Liz Truss, former Minister of Foreign Trade, had changed his mind, explaining that he saw Brexit as a source of economic opportunities.
She enjoys a strong popularity in the ranks of the conservative majority, to the point that her name comes back regularly to succeed the Prime Minister.
Citing disagreements with the direction taken by Boris Johnson’s government, Brexit Secretary of State David Frost tendered his resignation on Saturday evening as difficult negotiations with the EU on the implementation of the Northern Irish Protocol n ‘have not been successful. They are due to resume in January.
PHOTO LEON NEAL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Brexit Minister David Frost tendered his resignation on Saturday evening.
Boris Johnson “sorry”
Two years after his electoral triumph over the promise to achieve Brexit, Boris Johnson this week suffered a sling from his camp over measures against COVID-19, then the loss of a Conservative stronghold on the occasion of a by-election in England.
As accusations of non-compliance with health restrictions in power circles multiply in 2020, to the point of leading to the opening of an internal investigation into Christmas celebrations in Downing Street, Boris Johnson saw the emergence of Sunday evening an embarrassing photo.
Published by the newspaper The Guardian, it shows the head of government and collaborators with a board of cheese and glasses of wine in the Downing Street garden. The image is dated May 2020, a period of such moments of socialization were prohibited. Downing Street referred to a business meeting.
Boris Johnson is also facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, due to the Omicron variant.
In his resignation letter, David Frost cited new measures like the health passport to fight the coronavirus, the tax hike and the policy followed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 to explain his departure.
“You know my concerns about the current direction of things,” he wrote to Boris Johnson, stressing that, with Brexit assured, “the challenge for the government now is to realize the opportunities it gives us. “.
Boris Johnson said he was “sorry” for the resignation of David Frost, expressing his gratitude for the work he has done.
Health Minister Sajid Javid told Sky News “to understand the reasons” which led David Frost, “a man of principle”, to leave.
“Decisive moment”
On Times radio, the former North Irish Prime Minister Arlene Foster, pushed to leave in April because considered too moderate, judged the departure of David Frost “very, very disappointing”, believing that he “understood” the problems created by the new post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland.
Holding a hard line against the EU, David Frost led the negotiations for the Brexit agreement for London and then its implementation, especially concerning the Northern Irish protocol. Created to avoid any land border which would risk weakening the peace agreement concluded in 1998 after three bloody decades, this text maintains the British province in the single market and the European customs union.
The United Kingdom and the EU have been trying for several months to agree on the implementation of the text, effective since the beginning of the year. While David Frost has taken an inflexible stance in demanding that any recourse to European justice for the settlement of disputes be ruled out, the government recently seemed to soften its position on this matter.
“We had difficult relations, but we have always continued the Franco-British dialogue”, tweeted the French Minister for European Affairs Clément Beaune, greeting “with respect” David Frost. “It is time for the British government to rebuild a climate of trust with France and the EU, in the interest of all”.