How three years of flip-flopping ended in a curt text message
It was the ‘game-changer’ the Prime Minister had dreaded – Boris Johnson sides with Out campaign
THE email from Boris Johnson landed in the Prime Minister’s inbox on Saturday morning.
After years of wrestling with the arguments, he finally revealed that he was likely to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. There was no reply. In a move that prompted anger in Downing Street, the Mayor of London then sent David Cameron a text message yesterday evening just nine minutes before making a public statement declaring his intentions.
It was all the more galling for Mr Cameron because Mr Johnson had privately given him his assurance within recent weeks that he would back the In campaign, sources said.
Allies said that after days of prevaricating, Mr Johnson made his final decision early on Saturday, just before composing his email to the Prime Minister. However, it is understood that the decisive moment came during a dinner with Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, at Mr Johnson’s London home on Tuesday.
During the meal, Mr Gove told the Mayor that he was intending to join the Vote Leave campaign.
Friends insist that at that stage Mr Johnson was still “torn, confused and undecided”. It is understood that the dinner cemented Mr Johnson’s feeling that he should take the “most difficult” decision of his political career and back a “Brexit”.
Many of Mr Johnson’s closest allies are shocked that he made the decision to campaign for Out. One close political ally said as recently as Wednesday that he believed speculation over Mr Johnson backing Out was a “choreographed game” managed by Downing Street.
Although a committed Eurosceptic since working as Brussels correspondent for The Daily Telegraph in his 20s, Mr Johnson has always been known among friends as a Europhile and internationalist.
He has wrestled with the issue of a British exit from the EU for years.
As Mayor of London, Mr Johnson had regularly used the threat of making public Eurosceptic statements to force George Osborne, the Chancellor, to give him more money for his City Hall budget.
In 2011, he boasted to friends that he had secured £93 million for London policing by telling Mr Osborne he would write a column calling for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
In recent months, he had privately expressed concern that Mr Cameron was not asking for enough in his renegotiation with Brussels. However, sources close to the Prime Minister were convinced of his support.
After Donald Tusk unveiled a draft of his proposed deal at the beginning of the month, other Eurosceptics dismissed the agreement as a “sham” and “an insult” to Britain. But Mr Johnson kept silent. He believed that Mr Cameron had one last “rabbit” that could convince him on staying in the EU. The “rabbit” was supposed to be a British Bill of Rights and a new law to ensure the sovereignty of the British Parliament. It was designed to ensure that the “British Supreme Court is supreme” over its European counterparts.
Sources close to Mr Johnson were just two weeks ago saying that “it looks like this sovereignty promise will be enough to get Boris on board”.
However, in recent weeks, Mr Cameron’s rabbit started turning into a turkey. Mr Gove, who as Justice Secretary would be responsible for the new Bill of Rights, believed it to be unworkable. As it became increasingly clear that Mr Gove was considering backing the Out campaign, No10 instructed Oliver Letwin, a minister in the Cabinet Office, to take over the sovereignty pledge.
On Tuesday, over dinner with Mr Johnson, Mr Gove made clear he was backing “Brexit”. Mr Johnson made clear he was “leaning toward” Out, but had not made a final decision.
Last night, No 10 strenuously denied reports that Mr Cameron had offered Mr Johnson a senior Cabinet role in a bid to convince him to back the In campaign. “That is not the case,” a senior source said.
On Wednesday, Mr Cameron – the day before he travelled to Brussels – invited Mr Johnson to Downing Street. The Prime Minister took him through the deal and explained his plan to announce a sovereignty bill.
It was an extraordinary public overture to Mr Johnson and a recognition of his importance to the campaign to keep Britain in the EU. But Mr Johnson was not impressed. As he left No10, he said: “I’ll be back – no deal.” Privately, he told allies the Prime Minister’s sovereignty package was “not good and not convincing”.
After the meeting, Mr Cameron and his closest allies became increasingly pessimistic and began to think the previously unthinkable could happen.
They knew that Mr Johnson, whose public profile is second only to the Prime Minister among UK politicians, would be a game-changer if he joined the Out campaign. Their hope had been to portray the Out campaign as out-of-touch. But Mr Gove and, crucially, Mr Johnson, lend it legitimacy and there are concerns it will embolden other ministers to join the Out campaign. The email from Mr Johnson disclosing the “likelihood” of his campaigning to leave the EU arrived just before Mr Cameron convened Saturday’s Cabinet meeting.
After that meeting, Mr Cameron announced on the steps of No 10 that the In-Out referendum will take place on June 23. Minutes later, six members of his Cabinet joined the Out campaign, including Priti Patel, the Employment Minister. But Mr Cameron knew the biggest name was still to publicly declare his intentions.
At 4.49pm yesterday, Mr Johnson announced that after “agonising”, he had decided to join the Out campaign.
That one text message will prove to be one of the defining moments of both his and Mr Cameron’s careers.
‘He had privately expressed concern Mr Cameron was not asking for enough’