Boris Johnson’s eagerly anticipated new book, Unleashed, published tomorrow, will doubtless offering plenty more eye-opening insights into his time in Number 10.
Boris Johnson rejects claims that he is a ‘liar’
Boris Johnson clashes with Matt Chorley on BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday (Image: BBC)
The former PM added: “I say that it was, in fact, an underestimate, because it was going to probably rise.”
Mr Chorley counters: “I’ve read your book and you say in the book that it was more like £170 million.”
His hackles rising, Mr Johnson said: “No, that is the net figure that the UK was sending to Brussels to be spent by the EU on projects in the EU.
“The rest was to be spent by the EU on projects in the UK with no control from the UK, right?”
The famous Vote Leave battle bus, complete with slogan (Image: Getty)
Boris Johnson pictured with his then-wife Marina Wheeler during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign (Image: Getty)
Boris Johnson’s new book is published tomorrow (Image: ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
“Why don’t you get them in. I bet nobody has ever accused Romain of being big fat Pants on Fire liars for the things that they said about what was going to happen to this economy after Brexit.”
The slogan on the side of the bus proclaimed: “We send the EU £350 million a week, let’s fund our NHS instead.”
Critics argued that this figure was misleading, as it represented the gross amount sent to the EU without accounting for the rebate the UK received or the funds returned to the UK through EU programmes.
The suggestion that this money could directly fund the NHS was also seen as dubious, given that it oversimplified how government spending decisions are made.
This claim became a focal point of post-referendum debate, with many Remain supporters accusing the Leave campaign of misleading the public, while Leave campaigners defended the figure as highlighting the potential for redirecting EU contributions.
Vote Leave won the Referendum, in June 2016, triggering the process by which Britain quit the bloc. Mr Johnson was a leading light in the campaign and while he failed in his bid to become Tory leader in the immediate aftermath, he would eventually succeed Theresa May and become Prime Minister, winning the 2019 general election.
