Pro-Remain article was ‘semi-parodic’, insists Boris Johnson
Foreign Secretary claims he only wrote the leaked, unpublished article backing Remain to test his commitment to Leave
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson has insisted the pro-Remain article he wrote in February was “semi-parodic” and written solely “to see if I can make the alternative case to myself”.
The Foreign Secretary wrote the piece two days before he announced he would campaign for leave, but it was never published until it was leaked.
“It is perfectly true that back in February I was wrestling with it like a lot of people were in this country,” Mr Johnson told Sky News, outside his London home.
“I wrote a long piece which came out in favour of leaving. I then thought, ‘I better see if I can make the alternative case to myself,’ so I wrote a kind of semi-parodic article in the opposite sense, which has mysteriously made it into the paper this morning because I think I might have sent it to a friend.
“But I set them side by side and it was blindingly obvious what the right thing to do was. I think the people have made the right decision. They voted very substantially to leave the European Union, and that is what we’re going to do, and we’re going to make a great success of it.”
Mr Johnson has been a prominent Eurosceptic all of his adult life, including years as The Daily Telegraph’s Brussels Correspondent, but his decision to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union was anything but certain.
In February, after David Cameron announced the results of his lengthy negotiation with European leaders, Mr Johnson gave the then Prime Minister nine minutes notice that he would be joining the leave campaign. He told journalists he had been wrestling with the decision "for months".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments