David Cameron says second referendum ‘cannot be ruled out’
In an interview with The Times, the former PM revealed he thinks about his decision to hold the 2016 EU referendum ‘every day’ and regrets many things that happened during the build up. He told the paper in an interview:
‘Some people will never forgive me for holding a referendum. Others for holding it and losing it. ‘There are, of course, all those people who wanted a referendum and wanted to leave who are glad that a promise was made and a promise was kept.’
Mr Cameron said that the morning after losing the EU referendum he called Europe’s leaders and Barack Obama to say ‘sorry’. He added that he doesn’t sleep much as he ‘worries desperately about what is going to happen next’.
Mr Cameron added that he wishes Mr Johnson well as the country’s new PM and ‘wanted him to get a deal from the EU that would have passed in the House of Commons’. But he added he does not support Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament and a no-deal Brexit would be a bad idea.
His comments come after Scottish judges ruled Mr Johnson’s proroguing of Parliament was unlawful, in a case which will be heard at the Supreme Court next week. The former PM said: ‘Taking the whip from hard-working Conservative MPs and sharp practices using prorogation of Parliament have rebounded. I didn’t support either of those things. Neither do I think a no-deal Brexit is a good idea.’
Mr Cameron, who famously vowed during his premiership to step down if the UK voted to leave the EU, said he does not regret calling the referendum despite it destroying his political career. In the book, which will hit the shelves next week, Mr Cameron refers to his former education secretary Michael Gove, as ‘mendacious’.
He claims Mr Gove promised him he would not play a prominent role in the Leave campaign ahead of the referendum. Mr Cameron also revealed he wanted to demote him to chief whip in 2014 over concerns he was alienating teachers. But when he refused to step down, Mr Cameron told him via text:
‘You are either a team player or a w*****.’ The tell-all autobiography will hit shelves this weekend, which has caused tension in Downing Street over fears of what could be revealed about the new PM.