Heseltine’s ‘an old humbug’, say Brexiteers
THE Tory civil war over Europe deepened yesterday after Iain Duncan Smith dismissed prominent Europhile Lord Heseltine as a ‘voice from the past’.
Mr Duncan Smith, who resigned two months ago as work and pensions secretary, said the former deputy prime minister had ‘demeaned’ the referendum campaign through his ‘childish’ name calling.
It was a retort to Lord Heseltine’s attack on Boris Johnson on Monday in which he said the former London mayor was ‘losing his judgment’.
Tory backbencher Jacob Rees- Mogg, another prominent Leave campaigner, also attacked Lord Heseltine yesterday, describing him as a ‘frightful old humbug’.
‘He divided the Conservative Party more than anybody else in our modern history, and a period of silence on his part would be welcome,’ he said. The row erupted on the day of the Queen’s Speech, when Tories are meant to unite behind the Government.
Differences between the Remain and Leave camps are so deep that open ‘blue on blue’ attacks are becoming increasingly common. On Sunday Mr Johnson provoked fury when he compared EU efforts to build a federal super-state to Hitler’s plans to dominate the Continent. A day later, Lord Heseltine said he would be ‘very surprised’ if Mr Johnson ever becomes Tory leader.
On Tuesday night, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell described the argument as like a ‘pub brawl’.
Yesterday Mr Duncan Smith said Lord Heseltine had been part of a government which had claimed the ‘high watermark of European federalism’ had been reached – and had since been proven wrong.
He added: ‘My simple comment is: cut the name calling because this is childish and the public is fed up with it.’
But fellow Leave campaigner Chris Grayling declined to back Mr Johnson’s comments, despite being asked to seven times on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Mr Johnson told TV cameras outside his London home that: ‘Everybody should cut out the synthetic outrage about things I haven’t said.’ He added: ‘The only safe option is to vote Leave on June 23.’
Stephen Glover – Page 17