Former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May slammed Boris Johnson's plan to break international law over Brexit, and said she won't vote for it in Parliament.
In a rare public rebuke of her successor, May said Johnson's government “didn't really understand” what it was committing to when it signed the Withdrawal Agreement less than a year ago and criticized her successor for unilaterally abandoning an international agreement.
“The government is acting recklessly and irresponsibly,” May told the House of Commons on Monday. “This will lead to untold damage to the U.K.'s reputation.”
May's intervention is a sign of continuing resistance among influential Conservative MPs to Johnson's bill, which would allow ministers to renege on the divorce treaty Britain signed with the European Union. The prime minister has tried to win around skeptics by allowing Parliament a vote before the most controversial parts of the bill can be exercised, but he still faces opposition in both the Commons and the House of Lords.
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May said the legislation is unnecessary because the Brexit divorce treaty already contains provisions that would allow the U.K. to defend its interests against the EU. She warned Johnson's move also risks threatening the integrity of the U.K.
“With regret,” she said, “I have to tell the minister I cannot support this bill.”
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