Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reveals six-point Brexit plan

LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May was urged Friday by her former foreign secretary Boris Johnson to scrap her so-called Chequers blueprint for a future trade deal with the European Union.

Instead Johnson has called on May's government to switch to a Canada-style free trade deal with Brussels, adapted for the special needs of Britain.

Johnson outlined his own plans in the Daily Telegraph as May and her senior ministers were preparing to head to Birmingham for the start this weekend of the Conservative Party's annual conference.

May is highly likely to use her key-note conference speech to promote her own deal which was worked out during a meeting of her top ministers in July at her Chequers country retreat.

Within hours of that deal being agreed as Britain's Brexit position, both Johnson and then Brexit Secretary David Davis resigned.

In a hard-hitting commentary Johnson described May's Chequers plan as a moral and intellectual humiliation which would leave Britain "half in, half out" of Europe.

"There has been a collective failure of government, and a collapse of will by the British establishment, to deliver on the mandate of the people. The government must now have the guts to scrap the democratic disaster of Chequers and truly take back control of our laws and our lives," said Johnson.

Johnson says because two years of negotiating time have been wasted since the June 2016 referendum, his proposed six-point Super Canada deal should be negotiated with Brussels during a 21 month transition period that starts next March when Britain ends its membership of the EU. He said his plan would avoid the need for a hard border between Northern Ireland and the neighboring Irish Republic.

The Daily Telegraph in its editorial said Johnson's 4,600-word essay, titled My plan for a better Brexit, does not directly attack May, and does not call for a change of the Conservative Party leadership to see Brexit through.

"However, his brutal assessment of the government under her leadership will only add to speculation about a possible leadership challenge before the end of the year," added the Telegraph.

In his article Johnson says: "We must decide whether we have the guts to fulfill the instruction of the people -- to leave the EU and truly take back control of our laws and our lives. The next few weeks are critical. If we continue on the current path we will, I am afraid, betray centuries of progress. First we should chuck Chequers, and stop wasting time on a solution that can never be in the longterm interests of this country."

He concludes with the message: "This is the moment to change the course of the negotiations and do justice to the ambitions and potential of Brexit. We have the chance to get it right, and I am afraid that future generations will not lightly forgive us if we fail."