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| Duncan Smith's claim that Sajid Javid backs Brexit 'simply not true' | Duncan Smith's claim that Sajid Javid backs Brexit 'simply not true' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Iain Duncan Smith has been accused of making up a claim that the business secretary, Sajid Javid, secretly backs leaving the EU. | Iain Duncan Smith has been accused of making up a claim that the business secretary, Sajid Javid, secretly backs leaving the EU. |
| A source close to Javid suggested Duncan Smith was lying when he told the BBC on Monday that the business secretary had revealed to him that he was in favour of Brexit. | A source close to Javid suggested Duncan Smith was lying when he told the BBC on Monday that the business secretary had revealed to him that he was in favour of Brexit. |
| “It is simply not true. Sajid Javid has said no such thing either in private or public,” the source said. | “It is simply not true. Sajid Javid has said no such thing either in private or public,” the source said. |
| It is the latest spat between the camps of senior Tories, who have accused each other of untrustworthiness and mendacity over the EU referendum. | |
| Boris Johnson and David Cameron, as well as Iain Duncan Smith and George Osborne, have crossed swords in recent days as hostilities between senior Conservatives intensifies a month before the poll. | |
| The new row was sparked when Duncan Smith said he was deeply disappointed in Javid for campaigning to stay in the EU when the business secretary had personally told him he backed Brexit. | The new row was sparked when Duncan Smith said he was deeply disappointed in Javid for campaigning to stay in the EU when the business secretary had personally told him he backed Brexit. |
| Duncan Smith rounded on Javid for backing a new Treasury forecast of a recession if Britain votes to leave the European Union. | Duncan Smith rounded on Javid for backing a new Treasury forecast of a recession if Britain votes to leave the European Union. |
| “I’m deeply disappointed in him … having privately said how much he wanted the UK to leave the European Union he is now on defending this terrible report,” Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. | “I’m deeply disappointed in him … having privately said how much he wanted the UK to leave the European Union he is now on defending this terrible report,” Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. |
| Asked to clarify whether Javid had privately told Duncan Smith that he wanted Britain to leave the EU, Smith said: “He has, yup.” | Asked to clarify whether Javid had privately told Duncan Smith that he wanted Britain to leave the EU, Smith said: “He has, yup.” |
| Javid has always been clear about his Euroscepticism, but said earlier this year that the economic conditions were not currently right for leaving. | Javid has always been clear about his Euroscepticism, but said earlier this year that the economic conditions were not currently right for leaving. |
| Asked on Monday about comments he made in November, when he claimed the costs of staying in the EU outweighed the benefits, the business secretary said: “At that time no one knew what the final deal that we would have. Look what has been achieved in this renegotiation. We are far better off being part of this market.” | Asked on Monday about comments he made in November, when he claimed the costs of staying in the EU outweighed the benefits, the business secretary said: “At that time no one knew what the final deal that we would have. Look what has been achieved in this renegotiation. We are far better off being part of this market.” |
| He also said the latest analysis by the Treasury to be published later showed there would be an “immediate and profound economic shock”, if Britain left the EU. | He also said the latest analysis by the Treasury to be published later showed there would be an “immediate and profound economic shock”, if Britain left the EU. |
| He added: “Within two years there would be a recession. The central scenario shows a 3.6% contraction in GDP, higher inflation, house prices 10% lower than they would have otherwise have been and, I think most worryingly of all, a loss of over 500,000 jobs. It will make our country poorer and we have to understand that if that’s the way the country is going to vote.” | |
| Asked why the report had not taken account of the positive sides of leaving the EU, Javid said: “It is up to the leave campaign to show what that positive scenario is.” | |
| Duncan Smith seized on this comment as a “hell of an admission”. He said: “He said that is not our job to produce the upside, that’s for those who want to leave. Now hang on a second that makes this report categorically unfair and biased as a Treasury report.” | Duncan Smith seized on this comment as a “hell of an admission”. He said: “He said that is not our job to produce the upside, that’s for those who want to leave. Now hang on a second that makes this report categorically unfair and biased as a Treasury report.” |
| The former work and pensions secretary said the Treasury could not be trusted to produce accurate forecasts. | The former work and pensions secretary said the Treasury could not be trusted to produce accurate forecasts. |
| He said: “The same Treasury, at the time we were in the ERM [Exchange Rate Mechanism] – when we were under pressure to leave the ERM – said if we left it would be a disaster. Short-term inflation would rise, rates would increase, the economy would shrink. When we left the ERM none of that happened. We grew, inflation came down, and actually we created more jobs. So they cannot forecast short-term successfully, they have never managed to do it.” | |
| Asked to acknowledge the economic downsides of leaving the EU, Duncan Smith said: “I don’t think that downside exists for the UK.” | Asked to acknowledge the economic downsides of leaving the EU, Duncan Smith said: “I don’t think that downside exists for the UK.” |
| The fresh row comes after David Cameron’s former strategy guru Steve Hilton claimed the EU was a “secretive” and “impenetrable” organisation that did not work to Britain’s advantage. | |
| Writing in the Daily Mail, Hilton said the EU was “anti-enterprise”, “anti-market” and “anti-trade”. | Writing in the Daily Mail, Hilton said the EU was “anti-enterprise”, “anti-market” and “anti-trade”. |
| He added: “I believe it is the ideal and idealistic choice for our times: taking back power from arrogant, unaccountable, hubristic elites and putting it where it belongs – in people’s hands.” | He added: “I believe it is the ideal and idealistic choice for our times: taking back power from arrogant, unaccountable, hubristic elites and putting it where it belongs – in people’s hands.” |
| Responding to Hilton’s article, Javid said: “Steve is entitled to his view … the central issue here is that economically, we are far better off being part of this single market … Now you have the Bank of England, the IMF [International Monetary Fund], the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development], the London School of Economics, the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility], the IFS [Institute for Fiscal Studies], every one of our allies, every one of our trading partners and that is not a conspiracy, that’s a consensus about what would happen if we left the EU.” |