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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jun/08/ex-tory-leader-howard-defends-johnsons-criticism-of-treasury-over-brexit
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Michael Howard backs Johnson's criticism of Treasury over Brexit | Michael Howard backs Johnson's criticism of Treasury over Brexit |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The former Conservative leader Michael Howard has defended Boris Johnson after he was recorded accusing the Treasury of being “the heart of remain” intent on sacrificing the long-term gains of Brexit. | The former Conservative leader Michael Howard has defended Boris Johnson after he was recorded accusing the Treasury of being “the heart of remain” intent on sacrificing the long-term gains of Brexit. |
| Lord Howard, who, like Johnson, is a leading Brexiter but not one of his allies after firing him from his shadow cabinet, said the foreign secretary was right to criticise the Treasury’s scepticism about leaving the EU. | |
| In the private speech to the Conservative Way Forward group, Johnson is heard dismissing the cautious approach of Philip Hammond’s Treasury, which he said had focused on “mumbo jumbo” predictions about short-term disruption, instead of the potential gains from leaving the EU. | In the private speech to the Conservative Way Forward group, Johnson is heard dismissing the cautious approach of Philip Hammond’s Treasury, which he said had focused on “mumbo jumbo” predictions about short-term disruption, instead of the potential gains from leaving the EU. |
| “That fear of short-term disruption has become so huge in people’s minds that it’s turning them all wet,” he said. “Project Fear is really working on them.” | “That fear of short-term disruption has become so huge in people’s minds that it’s turning them all wet,” he said. “Project Fear is really working on them.” |
| Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Howard said: “If there are people in the Treasury who are doing that, then they shouldn’t be, and I deplore that.” | Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Howard said: “If there are people in the Treasury who are doing that, then they shouldn’t be, and I deplore that.” |
| He also played down the divisions in the cabinet that the secret recording exposed as the “spills and thrills” of the Brexit negotiations. | He also played down the divisions in the cabinet that the secret recording exposed as the “spills and thrills” of the Brexit negotiations. |
| Howard claimed Johnson was joking when he spoke approvingly of a imaginary scenario in which Donald Trump was leading the Brexit talks. | Howard claimed Johnson was joking when he spoke approvingly of a imaginary scenario in which Donald Trump was leading the Brexit talks. |
| Johnson was recorded saying: “He’d go in bloody hard … There’d be all sorts of breakdowns, all sorts of chaos. Everyone would think he’d gone mad. But actually you might get somewhere. It’s a very, very good thought.” | Johnson was recorded saying: “He’d go in bloody hard … There’d be all sorts of breakdowns, all sorts of chaos. Everyone would think he’d gone mad. But actually you might get somewhere. It’s a very, very good thought.” |
| Johnson said he had become “increasingly admiring of Donald Trump” and has become “convinced that there is method in his madness”. | Johnson said he had become “increasingly admiring of Donald Trump” and has become “convinced that there is method in his madness”. |
| Asked about the Trump comments, Howard said: “That is a thought I would prefer not to entertain. I suspect he had his tongue in his cheek when he said it.” | Asked about the Trump comments, Howard said: “That is a thought I would prefer not to entertain. I suspect he had his tongue in his cheek when he said it.” |
| In his speech, Johnson urged Tory donors not to panic during a likely “meltdown” over Brexit. Howard said: “He is certainly right to say we shouldn’t panic. I don’t know about a meltdown I’m not as close to the negotiations as Boris is. But there always going to be thrills and spills and what we have to do is to focus on the essentials of the situation.” | In his speech, Johnson urged Tory donors not to panic during a likely “meltdown” over Brexit. Howard said: “He is certainly right to say we shouldn’t panic. I don’t know about a meltdown I’m not as close to the negotiations as Boris is. But there always going to be thrills and spills and what we have to do is to focus on the essentials of the situation.” |
| The Tory grandee attacked remainers on the Conservative backbenches for trying to “nudge” the prime minister into staying in the customs union. | The Tory grandee attacked remainers on the Conservative backbenches for trying to “nudge” the prime minister into staying in the customs union. |
| He said: “She is not going to be nudged through the back door. She is going to stick to what she has said, which is that we will leave the customs union and we leave the single market and we have to do that to capture the advantages of Brexit.” | He said: “She is not going to be nudged through the back door. She is going to stick to what she has said, which is that we will leave the customs union and we leave the single market and we have to do that to capture the advantages of Brexit.” |
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