BoJo blasts back in row with ‘gloomy’ Hammond

BORIS Johnson yesterday hit back at Philip Hammond for saying he would never be prime minister and his biggest achievement as London mayor was the ‘Boris Bikes’ hire scheme.

In response to Mr Hammond’s attack in Monday’s Mail, Mr Johnson teased the chancellor for his department’s record of economic predictions, which included apocalyptic warnings about a Leave vote in the run-up to the 201 referendum that came to be known as ‘Project Fear’. In his speech, Mr Johnson said: ‘I want to congratulate the Chancellor for predicting that I would never become prime minister, which is the first Treasury forecast I’ve heard in a long time that has the distinct ring of truth.’

He also defended himself with a list of his achievements as mayor, which he said was ‘something the chancellor might care to consult’.