Johnson will campaign to leave EU, reports BBC
Blow to Cameron as he launches drive to keep UK in EU
london — David Cameron has launched a major push to win support for his call to keep Britain inside what he says is a “reformed” European Union ahead of a June 23 referendum.
Cameron used a BBC interview to address the charismatic Boris Johnson, the influential mayor of London.
But Johnson will campaign for Britain to leave the European Union in the run up to the June 23 referendum, the BBC reported on Sunday.
“Boris will campaign to leave the EU,” the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg said on Twitter without citing sources. One source with knowledge of Johnson’s decision confirmed that he would back the ‘out’ campaign.
If reports suggesting the mayor will back so-called ‘Brexit’ are correct, it would deal a major blow to Cameron two days after he sealed a deal in Brussels to reset Britain’s ties with the European Union.
Cameron also made clear his battle lines for the referendum, arguing that Britain is “safer” and “stronger” in Europe despite eurosceptic claims that the EU is bloated and unnecessary.
“I would say to Boris what I say to everybody else which is we’ll be safer, we’ll be stronger, we’ll be better off inside the EU,” Cameron said. “I think the prospect of linking arms with Nigel Farage and George Galloway and taking a leap into the dark is the wrong step for our country.”
Johnson, by contrast, is widely popular even with those who do not share his political views, thanks to his witty soundbites and shambolic appearance. Nicknamed “BoJo”, he is also one of the favourites to succeed Cameron, who will not stay on as prime minister beyond the next election in 2020.
Born in New York in 1964, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson’s family was competitive and high-achieving. His father was a Conservative member of the Eu- ropean Parliament, one brother, Jo, is a minister in Cameron’s government and his sister Rachel is a journalist and writer. She told his biographer that, as a child, he wanted to be “king of the world” when he grew up.—