Another disclosure from Anthony Seldon’s upcoming biography of David Cameron: he reveals that George Osborne tried to stop the referendum European Union membership. The below is from the Mail on Sunday’s serialisation of Seldon’s book:
Both men are profoundly irritated by their Eurosceptic MPs, but Osborne is even more pragmatic than Cameron. The Chancellor’s view is that it is simply not sensible to talk about disengaging from major international institutions in the 21st century – not worth considering it.
Can this be true? Look at this non-denial denial from the Treasury:
“This is nonsense. The Chancellor believes that the British people should be given the chance to decide whether or not we stay in a reformed EU.”
Note the tense: the Chancellor now believes. A non-denial denial is when you answer a question about the past with a statement about the present. When John Hutton was asked if he was the Cabinet member who warned in 2006 that a Brown premiership would be a “fucking disaster” he’d reply “that is not my view”. He used this trick for three years, before confessing. If No11 was to deny the story, it should have said “At no point did the Chancellor argue against the referendum.”
Anyway, Seldon’s account makes sense to me. Osborne is a Eurosceptic but his chief objective is to succeed Cameron as Prime Minister; this referendum is now his greatest threat. He’ll have to campaign for a ‘yes’ vote, and will struggle to win the leadership if the result is ‘no’. Ladbrokes has odds of 7/2 on that happening.
Anyway, it seems that Seldon’s biography could be delightfully waspish – and well worth reading. My edition is now on order.
UPDATE: For those interested, here’s how Eddie Mair teased the truth out of John Hutton…
Mair: “Did you say it?”
Hutton: “I am not going to, sort of, go into this … sort of, who said what to whom again here because, you know, I could say yes or no to that question …”
Mair: “Well you can tell me the truth …” But Hutton ploughed on: “… and it would still continue to be debated. You could tell me you thought it once and you don’t think it now.”
Hutton: “He has not been a disaster – he has put his heart and soul into the job, and is doing everything he can for the country at a time of intense difficulty.”
Mair: “But did you think he would be a disaster and did you express it in those terms? My guess is you said it. You haven’t denied saying it, and you … So, come on. Did you say it?”
Hutton: “Well, there’s no point in me denying that I didn’t have very serious concerns about …”
Mair: You said it … didn’t you?”
Hutton: “I did say it. Yes, I did. Yeah. Let’s just get that over with.”
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