The British Prime Minister is standing by Boris Johnson - after he said Donald Trump would do a better job of Brexit negotiations than her.
The British Foreign Secretary was recorded at a Tory event saying Theresa May needed to show "guts" in the talks.
“Imagine Trump doing Brexit,” Johnson said. “He’d go in bloody hard… There’d be all sorts of breakdowns, all sorts of chaos. Everyone would think he’d gone mad. But actually you might get somewhere. It’s a very, very good thought.”
He said Mrs May would need to be “much more combative with Brussels” in order to reach an acceptable deal.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Canada this evening, Mrs said she did not need an apology over the comments.
"The foreign secretary has strong views on Brexit, but so do I,” she said.
“That's why I'm getting on with the job of delivering what the people want - which is Brexit; for us to leave the EU and take back control of our laws and our borders.”
She dodged a question about whether Mr Johnson had become "unsackable", but hit back at his assertion that the Irish border issue was "a folly" and that the "tail was wagging the dog."
"The issue of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is very important to the United Kingdom," she said.
"I have been very clear, and the government is very clear, that we want to ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, that is an important border for the people who live both sides of it."
Meanwhile the EU has rejected significant parts of the British Government’s proposed ‘backstop’ solution for avoiding a return to a hard border in Ireland.
Westminster published its proposals in a whitepaper yesterday afternoon.
At a press conference this afternoon, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed the publication of the document – but warned it raises more questions than it answers.
The proposals would see a “temporary customs arrangement” put in place for the period after Britain leaves the bloc and before a new trade arrangement is put in place.
The arrangement would see the UK matching EU trade tariffs and observing relevant Customs Union rules until a new deal is in place.
However, the plan would only remain in place until 2021 – regardless of the status of negotiations on a future trading relationship between the two blocs.
The document also provides no answers in terms of aligning regulations.
Mr Barnier told reporters this afternoon that putting a time limit on the backstop would not be acceptable to the EU.
