Latest politics: David Cameron denies Boris Johnson’s account of bad mouth | Political news

Boris Johnson’s memoir Unleashed was published earlier this month, following the publication of several excerpts presumably designed to entice potential readers.

Among them was a passage detailing discussions the then London mayor had in 2016 with David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time.

Johnson said talks in which he was urged to back the campaign to remain in the EU in the upcoming referendum saw him offered a “five cabinet jobs” if he agreed, but threatened if he decided to join -se on the side of abandonment. .

The passage in question read:

“The Prime Minister had called me one evening at City Hall, urging me to make up my mind,” he said.

“I was torn, I said. I wanted to support him, but over the years he had written hundreds if not thousands of articles attacking the anti-democratic features of the EU. I felt I had to be consistent.

“‘This isn’t about articles!’ he sputtered. ‘It’s about… the future of the country!’

“Well, I said, we agreed on that, but I was still thinking of voting Leave.

“‘If you do that,’ he said, and those were his exact words, ‘I’ll screw you forever.’

He added: “I had to admit the threat sounded serious. Did I want to be screwed? Forever? By a prime minister equipped with all the shitty tools available to a modern government. And thousands of motherfuckers waiting for do your bidding?”

While effectively confirming the substance of the “lively conversation”, Lord Cameron has now disputed the account of the language he deployed.

“I find it hard to believe,” he told Times Radio.

No fruity language, insists Cameron

“What I do remember saying is: ‘Boris, you’ve never supported Britain leaving the EU before, you’ve always said, let’s reform it, let’s change it.’ I said, why bring it back now when we have a better deal? ‘

“‘You might not like my deal. You might think you can do better when you become prime minister, as you probably will in a few years. But suddenly you don’t support something you’ve never supported “.

“That was the argument I remember having.

“And I don’t remember any fruitier language than that. But you know, memories, memories are different, as they say.”