The Independent A senior Conservative MP has called on Boris Johnson to step down as prime minister if he fails to secure a trade deal

A senior Conservative MP has called on Boris Johnson to step down as prime minister if he fails to secure a trade deal with the European Union. Sir Roger Gale said that if no free trade agreement is secured by the end of the transition to Brexit, just 17 days away on 31 December, Mr Johnson would have “failed the people of the United Kingdom” and his position as PM would no longer be tenable. In those circumstances, he should stand aside and make say for “somebody more able to pick up the pieces”, said the North Thanet MP. Gale is the first serving Tory MP to call on the PM to resign if he fails to reach a deal. In the House of Commons since 1983, Sir Roger is one of the Conservatives’ longest-serving MPs and a former vice-chair of the party. But he is a long-standing critic of Boris Johnson, who voted Remain in the 2016 EU referendum, backed Jeremy Hunt in last year’s leadership election and has spoken out against hard Brexit. As such, it is unlikely that his stance will be echoed by more than a handful on the Tory benches. “If Mr Johnson fails to reach an acceptable trade agreement with the EU, the prime minister will also have failed the people of the United Kingdom.