Osborne: I knew we’d lose Brexit referendum
GEORGE Osborne admits he was pretty certain the Remain campaign would lose the EU referendum.
And he added he never wanted the landmark vote in the first place.
The then Chancellor, a senior Remain campaigner, said: “I was always quite gloomy about the referendum and its outcome. I’d fought a couple of elections which we won, and I know what it’s like when you’re fighting a winning election.
“You go around the country and you keep picking things up that confirm your view that it’s going your way. I had the opposite experience with the referendum… so I was pretty pessimistic.”
The Tory added he disagreed with David Cameron’s decision to hold the referendum but said they are still mates.
And he took a dig at Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond by saying there are no longer “obvious strong friendships at the top of Government”.
Meanwhile, Tory grandee Lord Heseltine suggested that Jeremy Corbyn as PM would not be as bad as Brexit.
He said: “We’ve survived Labour governments before. Their damage tends to be short term.” He added Brexit will not be short term or easily rectified.