Boris Johnson has declared he is going to find it "very difficult" to vote for Rishi Sunak's new Brexit deal as he delivered his eagerly anticipated verdict on the Prime Minister's so-called "Windsor Framework".
Mr Johnson raised numerous concerns about the agreement as he said ultimately it does not amount to the UK "taking back control".
The former prime minister argued the deal will act as a "drag anchor on divergence" as the UK tries to chart a different course to the EU and that there is "no point in Brexit unless you do things differently".
He also claimed the terms agreed with Brussels by Mr Sunak were very similar to what the bloc had offered to Liz Truss when she was foreign secretary.
Delivering a speech at a global soft power conference in central London this afternoon, Mr Johnson said: "I am going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this myself because I believed that we should have done something different, no matter how much plaster came off the ceiling in Brussels."
Mr Johnson argued that his Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which has now been ditched by Mr Sunak but would have given ministers the power to make unilateral changes to post-Brexit border arrangements in Northern Ireland, would have provided a better way forward.
Mr Johnson's criticism of the Prime Minister's deal represents a set back for Mr Sunak as he continues his efforts to secure the backing of Tory Brexiteers and the DUP for his framework.
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