‘Plot’ to sabotage Boris’ plan for Brexit
Diplomats break silence to say Foreign Secretary was misquoted over migration
A FURIOUS row erupted last night over claims of a “smear campaign” against Boris Johnson designed to undermine preparations for Brexit. Whitehall sources told The Sunday
Telegraph that the Foreign Secretary had been left “absolutely furious” after his views on immigration were misrepresented this week.
Anonymous European Union ambassadors were quoted in various reports saying that Mr Johnson had privately told them he supports free movement of migrants.
The claims were publicly denied by Mr Johnson, who insisted he voiced his usual support for immigration while insisting controls were needed after the Brexit vote.
Yet the row triggered a string of damaging headlines as television broadcasters and newspapers picked up on the claims of chaos over the Government’s immigration stance.
Last night, in a remarkable move, two ambassadors present at the event in question waived Chatham House rules to defend Mr Johnson through The Sunday Telegraph.
Pasquale Terracciano, Italy’s ambassador in London, said Mr Johnson had not mentioned freedom of movement at the meeting of 27 EU ambassadors. He decided to end the diplomatic custom of not talking about briefings because of misleading “speculation” about what the Foreign Secretary had said.
A second ambassador present said Mr Johnson’s private comments on immigration were so similar to his public statements that they were not included in a write-up of discussions. This newspaper has also learnt that the Foreign Secretary received a series of supportive messages from diplomats concerned with the way his views had been portrayed.
Suspicion has risen within Whitehall that the anonymous briefings are an attempt to “undermine the Brexiteer in Chief ” before the negotiations.
Senior Government sources have pointed the finger at British Influence, a think tank fighting for closer ties with Europe, over its role in the row.
The group, whose co-presidents when it was founded in 2012 included Lord Mandelson, the pro-EU former Labour minister, was quoted criticising Mr Johnson over the comments. Lord Mandelson is believed to be no longer involved in the group.
Senior figures have met more than 20 EU ambassadorial representatives since Brexit and are known to be well connected in diplomatic circles. It recently began a legal case challenging whether Government has the power to pull Britain out of the single market as well as the EU after the Brexit vote.
British Influence said last night that it had “zero involvement” in the claims surfacing and “fully supports” Mr Johnson’s vision for Britain. A spokesman said: “British Influence was asked for and supplied a comment for the stories once released but had no involvement in the supply of the information.”
Embassies that have been most hostile towards Brexit and may have a vested interest in undermining Britain’s negotiations preparation are also being blamed by Whitehall. The row centres on a briefing which took place with Mr Johnson and 27 EU ambassadors to Britain more than six weeks ago. The
event, conducted under “Chatham House rules” which demands views ex- pressed are not made public, was hosted by the Slovakians in London on Oct 19.
However, this week four EU ambassadors were quoted anonymously claiming that Mr Johnson had taken a very different line in private on immigration than in public.
“He did say he was personally in favour of free movement,” one ambassador was quoted as saying, while another said he was “openly” making the claim.
The claims were damaging both to Mr Johnson’s credibility and the Government’s Brexit stance, which is that free movement of EU nationals into the UK must end.
Whitehall sources said they had never seen Mr Johnson so angry after the story emerged, with one commenting: “He was absolutely furious.” Mr Johnson publicly denied making the comments when grilled about the story at a major foreign policy speech on Friday, which became overshadowed by the row.
Government sources have claimed the quotes are part of a wider “smear campaign” aimed at destabilising Britain’s preparations for Brexit talks. “If Boris did say he supported free movement, it would have come out straight away. It reeks of a stitch-up, which it is,” a source said. Mr Terracciano, the Italian ambassador, said: “Boris Johnson chose not to speak about the principle of freedom of movement within the EU. He said instead that he had always been favourable in principle to immigration but also added that immigration needed to be controlled.”
Another ambassador, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “My recollection was that he didn’t say anything that was different [from his public stance]. I don’t think I even made any particular note of what he said on that issue because it was simply in line with what I already knew to be Government policy.”
Mr Johnson will attempt to move on from the row today as he appears on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show and ITV’s Peston on Sunday.
Writing in the The Sunday Telegraph about a recent trip to Afghanistan, Mr Johnson outlines his vision for a “global Britain” after leaving the EU.
He writes: “Some people have been driven to ask this question by our decision to leave the European Union. Some have even chosen to interpret that vote as evidence of Britain abandoning the spirit of former years and choosing to turn inwards.
“I emphatically reject this view. Rather than hauling up the drawbridge, Britain is a nation on its mettle, refusing to be defined by Brexit and galvanised by the new possibilities ahead.
“We are what we have been for centuries: a country that is politically, economically and morally fated to be outward-looking and engaged with the world. That is what I mean when I speak of Global Britain.”