Cameron refuses challenge on debate
DAVID Cameron yesterday accused Brexit campaigners of telling six ‘irresponsible’ lies – while refusing to meet them in a face-toface debate to hammer out the truth.
In a hastily arranged Press conference, the rattled Prime Minister savaged Michael Gove and Boris Johnson for trying to ‘con’ the British public over the facts.
He claimed the Leave camp had made half a dozen statements that were ‘complete untruths’ and said it was time they were corrected. ‘It is irresponsible. It is wrong,’ Mr Cameron said. ‘It is time that the Leave campaign was called out on the nonsense that they are peddling.’
But Vote Leave stood by the six claims – which included Britain being on the hook for more eurozone bailouts, potentially losing its rebate and that it has given up a crucial veto on more EU integration.
Mr Johnson and Mr Gove then repeated their challenge for the Prime Minister to take them on in a live referendum debate – an invitation he has so far point-blank refused.
In a joint statement, they said: ‘We think that the public deserve the chance to hear these issues debated face-to-face between the Prime Minister and a spokesman for Vote Leave so they can judge for themselves which is the safer choice on June 23.’
Their fellow Brexit campaigner, Ukip’s Douglas Carswell, said: ‘The Prime Minister says we need a proper debate about the facts but he is too chicken to take on anyone from the Vote Leave campaign head-to-head.’
Mr Cameron has given only a handful of formal Press conferences in recent years, often at times of crisis, such as flooding. But, in a surprise move, reporters were yesterday given 90 minutes’ notice to attend an event on the roof of a building in central London.
Mr Cameron said he had decided to call the Press conference when he was watching the previous evening’s late-night news, so that he could ‘call out’ the false claims being made by Vote
Leave. The PM – who recently promised there would be no more attacks on Tory colleagues backing Brexit – then proceeded to savage recent remarks made by Mr Johnson, Mr Gove and a string of other ministers.
He did not name them individually – but repeated comments they had recently made, then dismissed the remarks as ‘nonsense’.
Mr Cameron said: ‘They say people have had enough of hearing from experts. Had enough of experts. Would you say that if you were building a bridge? Or if you were buying a house?
‘I don’t want an expert opinion on the mortgage, or on the building survey? Of course not. Why would you say it about one of the most important and complex decisions that this country will have to take in our lifetime?’
No10 sources insisted that Mr Cameron had not been making personal attacks, but was confronting the arguments.
Pressed on why he had not sacked Mr Gove and other pro-Brexit ministers if he believed they were deliberately conning the public, Mr Cameron said their actions were simply a result of them not having as much direct experience of the EU as he had as Prime Minister.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said Britain’s future in the EU was ‘too important to remain a blue-on-blue slugfest between two chaps who went to Eton 30 years ago’.