Osborne, Balls and Cable... best of friends in EU battle
GEORGE Osborne faced anger last night after teaming up with his former arch enemy Ed Balls to back staying in the EU.
The Chancellor stood shoulder to shoulder with the former Labour frontbencher to make the case against an EU exit yesterday.
They were joined by former Lib Dem Cabinet minister Sir Vince Cable during a campaign visit to Stansted airport.
Anti-Brussels campaigners dismissed the stunt as “desperate and disingenuous”.
Dismissing Leave campaigners as “conspiracy theorists”, Mr Osborne claimed the antiBrussels camp were so extreme that “they will be accusing us all of faking the moon landings” and “covering up the existence of the Loch Ness monster”.
His jibe drew a stinging riposte from senior Tory and leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson, who quipped: “The evidence of the Loch Ness monster is considerably better than the Treasury forecasts.”
Mr Osborne’s appearance with his former Labour nemesis follows concerns in Downing Street that the opinion polls remain finely balanced ahead of the June 23 referendum.
Standing in front of a Ryanair plane painted with a slogan that Britain is “stronger, safer and better off in Europe”, Mr Osborne explained why the trio was “putting aside our very obvious differences. It’s not a conspiracy – it’s called a consensus”.
Mr Osborne frequently clashed with Mr Balls, a former shadow chancellor, during the last parliament. Matthew Elliott, of the Vote Leave campaign, said voters will “dismiss this for what it is – a desperate and disingenuous PR stunt from politicians who disagree on everything.
“Politicians are ganging up with big business to try to bully the British people.”