Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
He lied to
Cam says Boris backed Leave to grab Tory crown He and Gove ‘behaved appallingly’ in referendum
DAVID Cameron claims Tory chum Boris Johnson is a liar who only backed Brexit to “become the darling of the party” – and even texted him before the referendum to admit he expected Remain to win.
In a bitter attack in his new book, he says Mr Johnson fronted Vote Leave to become Prime Minister because he “didn’t want to risk allowing someone else with a high profile – Michael Gove in particular – to win that crown”.
Mr Cameron says his Old Etonian pal’s text told of how Brexit would be crushed “like the toad beneath the harrow” in the 2016 vote.
And astonishingly, the former PM says Mr Johnson claimed “there could be a fresh renegotiation, followed by a second referendum”.
In his book, Mr Cameron writes: “The conclusion I am left with is that he risked an outcome he didn’t believe in because it would help his political career.”
He also claims Mr Gove turned from a “liberal-minded, carefullyconsidered Conservative intellectual” into a “foam-flecked Faragist”.
DISLOYALTY
And he lays into Mr Gove for stabbing Mr Johnson in the back during his 2016 leadership bid.
Mr Cameron says: “One quality shone through: disloyalty. Disloyalty to me and, later, disloyalty to Boris.
“By the end, Boris and Michael seemed different people. Boris had backed something he didn’t believe in. Michael had backed something he did perhaps believe in but had broken with his friends.
“Both then behaved appallingly, attacking their government, turning a blind eye to their side’s unpleasant actions and becoming ambassadors for the expert-trashing, truthtwisting age of populism.”
Claiming Mr Johnson was less concerned about our sovereignty than “the best outcome for him”, he adds: “Whichever Tory took the lead on the Brexit side – so loaded with images of patriotism, independence and romance – would become the darling of the party.”
In For The Record, out Thursday, Mr Cameron also tells of being “shocked” by Priti Patel during the referendum.
He says: “She used every announcement, interview and speech to hammer the
Government on