Ex-PM Cameron slams Johnson over Brexit

LONDON - Former British prime minister David Cameron launched a blistering attack on the UK's current leader Boris Johnson in extracts of his memoirs published on Sunday. Cameron accuses Johnson of only backing Brexit to further his career.

He said Johnson, who took office in July, believed that campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union during the 2016 referendum would make him the "darling" of their Conservative Party.

Damningly, he also said that Johnson privately believed there should be a second referendum to confirm the terms of Brexit - something the prime minister has strongly resisted since.

In extracts published in The Sunday Times newspaper, Cameron - who as prime minister led the failed "Remain" campaign to stay in the EU - also accused his "Leave" rivals of lying to the public.

He wrote that Johnson and one of his top ministers, Michael Gove - a former close friend of Cameron's - "became ambassadors for the expert-trashing, truth-twisting age of populism" during the campaign.

Cameron, 52, has largely kept out of the public eye since stepping down in the wake of the historic Brexit vote in 2016.

But the publication of his memoirs came at an explosive time, with Britain mired in political turmoil ahead of its scheduled exit from the bloc on Oct 31.

Johnson is desperately seeking a divorce deal from Brussels but insists Britain will leave without one if necessary - even after parliament last week prohibited him from carrying out a "no-deal" exit.

Cameron revealed he had tried to stop Johnson from joining the Brexit campaign by offering him the post of defense secretary.

But Johnson went ahead, and "risked an outcome he didn't believe in because it would help his political career".

Cameron claims Johnson believed the "Leave" camp would lose, and, if it won, "there could always be a fresh renegotiation, followed by a second referendum" - something he now rejects.

In previous extracts of his long-awaited memoir, For The Record, to be published on Thursday, Cameron said he had no regrets on calling the referendum.

But he said he was "desperately" worried about what happens next.

His immediate successor as prime minister, Theresa May, negotiated exit terms with Brussels last year, but parliament rejected these three times, forcing her to quit.

Johnson took over, vowing to get Brexit done, but he has also struggled as EU leaders warned they will not renegotiate, and with parliament still deeply divided over how to proceed.

On Monday, he will meet European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Luxembourg.

The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported that Johnson likened himself to an unruly comic book character, The Incredible Hulk, late on Saturday in an interview where he stressed his determination to take Britain out of the EU on Oct 31.

He said he would find a way to circumvent the recent parliament vote ordering him to delay Brexit rather than take Britain out of the EU without transition details to ease the economic shock.

"The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets," Johnson was quoted as saying. "Hulk always escaped, no matter how tightly bound in he seemed to be - and that is the case for this country. We will come out on October 31."

Agencies

(China Daily 09/16/2019 page12)