- His comments come ahead of a legal battle over the suspension of parliament
- Mr Cameron, 53, says he ‘worries desperately about what is going to happen’
- And that he is critical of the government’s strategy which has now ‘morphed’
- Explosive interview comes ahead of publication of his tell-all autobiography
- He is said to have received £800,000 for the book which is due out this month
David Cameron has torn into Boris Johnson and ‘mendacious’ Michael Gove in an explosive new interview over the Brexit referendum – as he reveals he worries about leaving the European Union ‘ever single day’.
The revelations come ahead of his tell-all book release which is due to be published this month.
In an interview with The Times, Mr Cameron, 53, accuses his former close friend Michael Gove of being a liar and reveals that he once texted him: ‘you are either a team player or a w*****’.
He also chastises the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson and says that his decision to jump for Brexit was ‘probably personal ambition’. Mr Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament also comes under fire, as does taking the whip ‘from hard-working Conservative MPs’.
On the both of them, Mr Cameron says they behaved ‘appallingly’ during the Brexit campaign, slamming them over claims made on the side of a bus that the EU receives £350million a week from the UK. And on the controversial and contested claims Turkey was on the brink of joining the EU, he says the pair ‘left the truth at home’.
He accused Michael Gove and Boris Johnson of effectively ‘trashing’ the Government during the EU referendum campaign.
He said: ‘I say in the book: Boris had never argued for leaving the EU, right? Michael was a very strong Eurosceptic, but someone whom I’d known as this liberal, compassionate, rational Conservative ended up making arguments about Turkey (joining) and being swamped and what have you.
‘They were trashing the government of which they were a part, effectively.’
Such is the current political turmoil brought about by Brexit, the former Prime Minister admits he now ‘worries desperately about what is going to happen next.’
His comments come ahead of a legal battle over Mr Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament after Scottish judges ruled he acted unlawfully and had ‘improper’ motives.
A court in Edinburgh controversially decided earlier this week that Mr Johnson really wanted to avoid scrutiny by MPs, rather than teeing up a new legislative programme as he claimed.
The issue is now set for a titanic showdown in the Supreme Court next week.
On this, Mr Cameron said he wishes the current Prime Minister well and that he wants him to get a deal from the EU that will pass in the House of Commons. But he is critical of the government for having adopted a strategy that ‘has morphed into something quite different’.
He said: ‘Taking the whip from hard-working Conservative MPs and sharp practices using prorogation of Parliament have rebounded. I didn’t support either of those things. Neither do I think a no-deal Brexit is a good idea.’
Mr Cameron, 53, (pictured in London in June) has said the referendum on membership of the European Union was ‘inevitable’ but that he regrets parts of the build up to it
On the Prime Minister, Mr Cameron said he wishes Boris Johnson well and that he wants him to get a deal from the EU that would have passed in the House of Commons. And on Michael Gove he says that he texted him ‘you are either a team player or a w*****’
Mr Cameron was also asked about a second referendum in the interview, which he said can’t be ruled out. But he wouldn’t be pressed on whether it should happen, instead simply noting that ‘you’ve got to find some way of unblocking the blockage.’
And on no-deal Brexit, he says it would be a be a ‘bad outcome’ for the country, adding: ‘I very much hope it doesn’t happen. I don’t think it should be pursued.’
His comments came as Boris Johnson today insisted nothing David Cameron writes in his memoirs will change the ‘affection and respect’ he has for the former PM.
Mr Cameron is finally preparing to unleash his potentially explosive autobiography this weekend. They are set to give a behind the scenes account of his wrangling with Mr Johnson as he tried to persuade him to back Remain in the EU referendum.
Fellow Old Etonians who both went to Oxford, the two men have a rivalry that stretches back decades.
Mr Cameron has been keeping a low profile since resigning in the wake of his humiliating defeat in the referendum three years ago.
He has insisted he does not regret calling the national vote on Brexit, despite seeing his own political career destroyed and the country descend into turmoil.
The Tory former leader is said to have received £800,000 for the book, which he penned partly in a £25,000 shepherd’s hut installed in the back garden of his home.
Publication of the memoirs had been delayed in the expectation that the UK’s departure from the EU might be settled.
However, they are now finally due to emerge at an incredibly volatile moment in British politics, as Mr Johnson tries to keep his ‘do or die’ vow to secure Brexit by October 31 in the face of opposition from MPs.
Downing Street aides are nervous about what could emerge in the book and how much damage it might cause to the PM.
However, asked today whether he was worried what his predecessor might say about him, Mr Johnson shrugged off the dangers.
‘I want people to be clear, absolutely nothing that David Cameron says in his memoirs in the course of the next few days will diminish the affection and respect in which I hold him,’ Mr Johnson said at an event in Rotherham.
‘Not least for what he did in turning this country round after Labour left it bankrupt.
‘I think he has a very distinguished record and a legacy to be proud of.’
Also today, Mr Johnson insisted he was ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the prospects of a Brexit deal after it emerged he will make a dash to Luxembourg for talks with Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday.
The PM said the government was working ‘incredibly hard’ and the ‘rough shape’ of a settlement was emerging.
But he cautioned ‘we will see what we get’ from the showdown next, and insisted that ‘whatever happens’ the UK will leave the EU on October 31.
Mr Johnson – who was delivering a speech in Rotherham – will hold the crisis meeting with the commission president at a ‘neutral location’ as the clock ticks down on his ‘do or die’ Brexit date.
He will also meet Luxembourg premier Xavier Bettel during the trip.
However, the scale of the challenge Mr Johnson faces was underlined today when Irish PM Leo Varadkar warned that the ‘gap is very wide’ between the two sides.
Rumours are swirling that Mr Johnson is pinning his hopes on a new version of the ‘insurance policy’ for the Irish border.
There are claims that the DUP is ready to soften its red lines on the backstop, although that was rejected by the party today.
Mr Varadkar also moved to play down the scope for compromise this morning.
‘We have always said we would be willing to look at alternative arrangements but what we’re seeing falls far short,’ Mr Varadkar told RTE radio.
‘We are exploring what is possible. The gap is very wide but we will fight for and work for a deal until the last moment, but not at any cost.’
It will be the first meeting between Mr Johnson and Mr Juncker since he entered Downing Street. But sources played down hopes of a ‘breakthrough moment’.
‘The PM is working hard to get a deal and we have been putting forward ideas but there is a long way to go,’ one senior aide said.
Mr Juncker risked fury yesterday as he claimed British people were only ever ‘part time Europeans’.
The outgoing president of the European Commission said ‘from the very beginning’ the UK had not been fully committed to the EU.
He labelled Brexit a ‘tragedy and a failure’ but insisted he was in no way responsible for the current chaos surrounding the UK’s split from Brussels.
The comments from Mr Juncker came as he prepares to step down from his role in a matter of weeks.
The Tory former leader is said to have received £800,000 for the book (pictured), which he penned partly in a £25,000 shepherd’s hut installed in the back garden of his home
Rumours have been swirling that Boris Johnson (pictured in Doncaster today) is preparing a new version of the ‘insurance policy’ for the Irish border
He will be replaced as the head of the commission by Ursula von der Leyen on November 1 as his five year term comes to an end.
The PM’s aides have been examining proposals for arrangements that would apply only to Northern Ireland, rather than aligning the whole UK with EU market rules.
However, DUP leader Arlene Foster has moved to quash the speculation, saying the ‘UK must leave as one nation’.
‘We are keen to see a sensible deal but not one that divides the internal market of the UK,’ she said.
In a sign that pressure might be starting to tell on Ireland, Mr Varadkar admitted today that there would need to be border checks after No Deal.
‘Our intention in the event of No Deal – and this is is a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question – is that checks will take place at ports and airports and at business level.
‘Some checks may need to be placed on the border but we do not have any locations identified.
‘We will do everything we can do to avoid checks on or near the border but the position we face is a decision by the UK to leave the EU potentially without a deal, and in that scenario we have a twin objective.
‘The first is to uphold the Good Friday Agreement and the second is to protect our position in the European single market so that is going to be very difficult.
‘What I can say to anyone who operates a business along the border who may face SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) checks or other is that we will give them plenty of notice. It is not going to be a sudden announcement or an overnight decision.’
The latest manoeuvring came as the PM takes his ‘shadow’ election campaign on the road to Yorkshire – where he will vow to fire up the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ economic project.
But most of the focus is on his increasingly frantic efforts to find a way through the Brexit impasse, as he faces breaking his ‘do or die’ promise to get the UK out of the EU by October 31.
Mr Johnson previously stated that he was seeking a ‘backstop-ectomy’, to remove the controversial provision from the Withdrawal Agreement altogether.
However, the task for the PM was made tougher after Parliament passed a law effectively banning No Deal at the end of October, and refused his call to trigger an early general election.
The latest blueprint being floated would not be the same as the previous Northern Ireland-only backstop floated by Brussels, which was dismissed by Theresa May as something no British PM could accept.
That would have involved the province staying within the EU’s tax jurisdiction.
Instead, the idea is thought to be a much looser alignment of agricultural and food regulations with Ireland. That could help avoid many checks on the border, but it is far from clear it would be acceptable either to the EU or the DUP.
The so-called ‘Stormont lock’ could also be revived, giving the Northern Ireland assembly a veto over taking new EU rules to address claims of a democratic deficit. However, Stormont has not even been in operation for more than two years following rows between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
source:dailymail
