Boris Johnson warns against Brexit ‘betrayal’

LONDON

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will on Feb. 14 use a major speech to warn that attempts to frustrate Brexit would lead to “ineradicable feelings of betrayal.”

Johnson, who was one of leading campaigners behind Brexit, will also urge those who voted to leave the European Union to make peace with those who wanted to stay in the bloc, with the issue still the cause of deep divisions in British society.

During the London speech, the first of series of high-profile ministerial addresses on leaving the EU, he will urge Brexiteers to “reach out to those who still have anxieties.

“It is not good enough to say to Remainers - you lost, get over it; because we must accept that many are actuated by entirely noble sentiments, a real sense of solidarity with our European neighbors and a desire for the U.K. to succeed,” he will say, according to extracts released by the foreign ministry.

Johnson will, however, also fall back on phrases often used by the pro-Brexit side, accusing some people of attempting to “frustrate the will of the people” and stop Britain leaving the EU.

“I believe that would be a disastrous mistake that would lead to permanent and ineradicable feelings of betrayal. We cannot and will not let it happen,” he will say.

The foreign minister’s previous interventions have often put him at odds with fellow ministers, who have accused him of sowing internal division and undermining Prime Minister Theresa May.