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Boris Johnson's previously unpublished 'pro-EU' column revealed Boris Johnson makes light of 'semi-parodic' pro-EU column
(about 3 hours later)
Boris Johnson said the UK remaining in the EU would be a "boon for the world and for Europe", a previously unpublished newspaper column reveals. Boris Johnson has insisted the case for leaving the EU was "blindingly obvious" after a previously unpublished article he wrote before the referendum appeared to cast doubt on his views.
He wrote the column in February, along with a pro-Brexit article that was later published in the Telegraph. In a newspaper column in February, now published by the Sunday Times, he suggested staying in the EU would be a "boon for the world and for Europe".
Mr Johnson subsequently became a leading figure in the campaign to leave the European Union. Mr Johnson says he was "wrestling with the issue" at the time and was merely trying to make the "alternative case".
The Sunday Times has published the pro-Remain column, which it says Mr Johnson wrote to clarify his thoughts. Critics accused him of "duplicity".
In it he warned that Brexit could lead to an economic shock, Scottish independence and Russian aggression. Mr Johnson was a leading figure in the campaign to exit the EU and became foreign secretary after the Leave vote in the June referendum.
The foreign secretary had previously admitted to writing the piece but its contents had not been known. Amid growing pressure on the government to spell out its negotiating objectives for Brexit, Mr Johnson insisted last week that the UK could get a trade deal that was "of greater value" to the economy than access to the EU single market, which he described as an "increasingly useless" concept.
The Sunday Times says he first wrote an article arguing the case to leave the EU, then wrote the pro-Remain piece "as a way of clarifying his thoughts", before composing a final article for publication backing Brexit. But in February's pro-Remain column, Mr Johnson backed membership of the free trade zone, describing it as "a market on our doorstep, ready for further exploitation by British firms". He added: "The membership fee seems rather small for all that access. Why are we so determined to turn our back on it?"
'Economic shock' In the article, which was produced at the same time as a pro-Brexit article published in the Telegraph, Mr Johnson also warned Brexit could lead to an economic shock, Scottish independence and Russian aggression.
Mr Johnson this week insisted the UK could get a trade deal that was "of greater value" to the economy than access to the EU single market, which he described as an "increasingly useless" concept. He wrote: "There are some big questions that the 'out' side need to answer. Almost everyone expects there to be some sort of economic shock as a result of a Brexit.
But in the pro-EU article, revealed in a new book by Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman, All Out War, he supported membership of the free trade zone.
"This is a market on our doorstep, ready for further exploitation by British firms," Mr Johnson wrote.
"The membership fee seems rather small for all that access. Why are we so determined to turn our back on it?"
Mr Johnson also warned that Brexit would cause an "economic shock" and could lead to the "break-up" of the UK.
He wrote: "There are some big questions that the 'out' side need to answer.
"Almost everyone expects there to be some sort of economic shock as a result of a Brexit.
"How big would it be? I am sure that the doomsters are exaggerating the fallout - but are they completely wrong? And how can we know?""How big would it be? I am sure that the doomsters are exaggerating the fallout - but are they completely wrong? And how can we know?"
Mr Shipman said Mr Johnson's column contradicted positions he had adopted since joining the cabinet following Theresa May's appointment as prime minister. Mr Johnson had previously admitted to writing the pro-Remain piece but its contents had not been known until now - having been revealed in a new book by Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman, All Out War.
But he said it also "dispels the myth that Johnson's case for remain was better than his argument to leave". 'Alternative case'
"In fact the article was dashed off quickly and seems to be an attempt by Johnson to convince himself the case for staying in was weak," he said. Asked whether he had changed his views on the issue, Mr Johnson said before the referendum was called "everybody was trying to make up their minds".
"It's perfectly true that I was wrestling with it, like a lot of people in this country," he said.
"And I wrote a long piece which came down overwhelmingly in favour of leaving. I then thought, I'd better see if I can make the alternative case to myself, so I wrote a kind of semi-parodic article in the opposite sense, which has mysteriously found its way into the paper this morning, as I think I might have sent it to a friend.
"I sent them side by side and it was blindingly obvious what the right thing to do was."
Shipman said Mr Johnson's column contradicted positions he had adopted since joining the cabinet following Theresa May's appointment as prime minister but also "dispels the myth that Johnson's case for remain was better than his argument to leave".
Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman Tom Brake said it would "confirm many people's suspicion that he put his own career ahead of the interests of the country".
"Boris was bang on about the threat of Brexit to the economy and the unity of the country - it is a shame he did not listen to his own warning."
'Betrayal''Betrayal'
Leave campaigners say pre-referendum forecasts of an immediate economic shock have failed to materialise, although critics of the Brexit vote point to the fall in the value of the pound against the dollar and the euro as evidence. Leave campaigners say pre-referendum forecasts of an immediate economic shock failed to materialise, although critics of Brexit point to the fall in the value of the pound against the dollar and the euro as evidence.
Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who supported a Remain vote, suggested Mr Johnson and other "opportunists and chancers" backing Brexit had lied to the British people during the referendum campaign about the economic impact of Brexit.Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who supported a Remain vote, suggested Mr Johnson and other "opportunists and chancers" backing Brexit had lied to the British people during the referendum campaign about the economic impact of Brexit.
"If I was a Brexit voter, I would feel increasingly betrayed that I voted in the belief that all these Brexiteers knew what they were doing," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr. "If I was a Brexit voter, I would feel increasingly betrayed that I voted in the belief that all these Brexiteers knew what they were doing," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.
"I would feel 'I put my faith in Gove, Johnson and Farage' and I would be increasingly angry - particularly as my electricity and gas prices go up, as I realise I can't take my kids on that holiday to Spain because it is now 20% more expensive.
"I would be increasingly angry that these people, months after the referendum, still won't come clean about what they mean by Brexit.""I would be increasingly angry that these people, months after the referendum, still won't come clean about what they mean by Brexit."
Mr Clegg, who is part of a cross-party campaign urging a parliamentary vote on the UK's negotiating strategy, said having a "sensible and coherent plan" in place before beginning official talks would actually "strengthen" Theresa May's hand. Mr Clegg, who is part of a cross-party campaign urging a parliamentary vote on the UK's negotiating strategy with the EU, said having a "sensible and coherent plan" in place before beginning official talks would "strengthen" Mrs May's hand.
'Delivering result'
But International Development Secretary Priti Patel warned against MPs "using Parliament as a vehicle to subvert the democratic will of the British people".But International Development Secretary Priti Patel warned against MPs "using Parliament as a vehicle to subvert the democratic will of the British people".
She told Andrew Marr that MPs were already debating the government's strategy on a daily basis - pointing to two statements made by ministers during the past week. She told Marr that MPs were already debating the government's strategy on a daily basis - pointing to two statements made by ministers during the past week.
"The job of the government is to deliver the the result of the referendum. The British people have spoken and we are going to deliver for them." "The job of the government is to deliver the result of the referendum. The British people have spoken and we are going to deliver for them."
On Sunday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she believed a deal could be reached which would allow Scotland to retain access to the European single market. The prime minister has said she wants the best access to EU markets for British business after Brexit but has signalled she also wants limits on freedom of movement - which EU leaders say is incompatible with continued membership of the single market.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, she said the UK leaving the EU need not entail Scotland being excluded from a separate trade arrangement. On Sunday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she believed a deal could be reached that would allow Scotland to retain access to the single market after Brexit.