BORIS GOES IN FOR THE KILL
Dagger blow to Cameron as Johnson backs EU exit ++ He texted decision to No10 just minutes before going public ++ PM tried to buy him off with top Cabinet job
BORIS Johnson dealt a dagger blow to David Cameron last night by declaring he will campaign for Britain to quit an ‘out of control’ EU.
After weeks of flirting with the Out camp, the announcement by london’s mayor electrified the referendum debate.
Polls suggest his support could be decisive on June 23 – with the odds on Britain voting to quit the Brussels club instantly tumbling to only 2/1.
The move also saw him usurp george Osborne as the favourite to be next Tory leader.
The Prime Minister is understood to have offered Mr Johnson a senior Cabinet post – foreign or home secretary – in a fruitless bid to keep him on side.
To the exasperation of no 10, he also rebuffed a series of personal appeals from Mr Cameron, who was informed of the final decision by text message nine minutes before it was made public.
it is a second blow after Cabinet heavyweight Michael gove, a close personal friend of the Camerons, declared for Out on Saturday.
Mr Johnson said Europe was a political project in ‘real danger of getting out of proper democratic control’. He claimed UK sovereignty was being ‘very greatly eroded’ by EU institutions, with ‘too much judicial activism’ and legislation coming out
of the EU. He added: ‘I look at what the Prime Minister achieved from the EU the other day and I think given the time he had he did fantastically well.
‘But I don’t think anyone could realistically claim that this is fundamental reform of the EU or of Britain’s relationship with the EU.
‘I don’t see how having worried about this issue for quite so long I can then pass up what may be the only chance any of us has in our lifetime.’ In other developments:
- Iain Duncan Smith warned remaining in the EU left Britain at greater risk of a Paris-style terrorist attack;
- Mr Cameron faced the damaging prospect of more than half of Tory MPs backing Brexit;
- The PM admitted details of his emergency brake on migrant benefits have not been nailed down;
- He triggered a row by claiming people who love Britain should vote to stay inside the EU;
- Bosses of FTSE 100 firms are signing a letter claiming leaving the EU ‘would put the economy at risk’.
In a sign that the In campaign was rattled by Mr Johnson’s move he was immediately subjected to a personal attack by Lord Heseltine.
The Tory grandee, who is close to No 10, said: ‘Given that Boris has spent so long agonising over this decision his decision is illogical.
‘If it takes you this long to make up your mind about something so fundamental and you still have questions, then surely the right option is to stay with what you know rather than risk our economy and security with a leap in the dark.
‘If he were to be successful in his ambition to cut us off from Europe, the flags would fly in Frankfurt and Paris in his honour. At a stroke, he would have blown away the safeguards for our financial services industry that the Prime Minister has just secured.
‘That is to risk countless jobs across our country from Edinburgh in the north to Bournemouth in the south and, of course, London itself.’
No 10 let it be known that Mr Johnson had used a text to inform Mr Cameron. However the mayor’s aides said he had sent the PM an email on Saturday saying he would probably be Out. There was no reply.
On the BBC yesterday Mr Cameron warned that Mr Johnson would be ‘ linking arms’ with Nigel Farage and George Galloway. Friends of the mayor insisted he had no intention of turning the referendum into ‘Dave v Boris’. He does not plan to lead the Out campaign, debate against the PM or become involved in any briefing wars, insiders said.
The mayor said: ‘I stress what I won’t do is to take part in lots of blooming TV debates against other members of my party. If I’m asked my views I will give my views.’
He insisted it had nothing to do with any ambition to replace Mr Cameron as prime minister. But bookmakers responded to the news by installing him as the new 2/1 favourite to be next Tory leader, overtaking Chancellor Mr Osborne.
Campaigning for Out will vastly increase his popularity with grassroots Tory members, who have the final say over who will win the contest.
It also increases the chances of him securing the support of enough Tory MPs to ensure he is one of the two names that will go forward to the final ballot of party members.
After securing the backing of Justice Secretary Mr Gove, the Out camp was delighted. Sources said it now had the most popular and best known Tory MP in Mr Johnson and the party’s ‘biggest brain’ in Mr Gove.
They join in the Brexit camp Cabinet ministers Mr Duncan Smith, Chris Grayling, John Whittingdale, Theresa Villiers and Priti Patel.