George Osborne says Remain supporter could ‘absolutely’ be next Prime Minister

George Osborne has said the next Prime Minister could “absolutely” be from the Remain campaign amid warnings that taxes will go up and public spending cut back in the wake of the EU referendum result.

Mr Osborne, who yesterday ruled himself out of his party’s leadership contest, added the future Conservative leader would be a candidate who is able to articulate, in his view, “the clearest, crispest version of what relationship we are seeking” with the rest of the world.

Asked whether an individual in the Tory party, who argued the case for Remain, could lead the country Mr Osborne responded: “Yes, absolutely. I’m not backing any candidate at the moment but, of course, I was full throttled in arguing for remaining in the EU and because half of my party wanted to leave the EU I don’t think I can be the person to bring the party together at this moment – I’m just being realistic about that. “

The Chancellor also claimed that “it was not the responsibility” of those in the Remain campaign during the referendum to have articulated a vision for Britain outside the EU. “We as a country now have to determine which model we are seeking,” he added.

“I’m not a market speculator,” continued Mr Osborne when asked about the state of the nation’s economy. “But I think we are in a prolonged period of economic adjustment for the UK… it will not be as economically rosy as life inside the EU.

During the EU referendum campaign Mr Osborne joined forces with Alistair Darling, the former Labour Chancellor, to warn of an emergency Budget in the event of a Brexit. They claimed that £15 billion of tax rises and £15 billion of spending cuts would be needed to make up for a £30 billion “black hole” created by Britain’s exit from the EU.

On the emergency budget – dubbed the “punishment budget” by the Leave campaign – the Chancellor responded: “It’s very clear that the country is going to be a poorer as a result of what is happening to the economy.

“I think a crucial thing that is going to have to be provided is fiscal responsibility – we now, at our cost, what happens when you lose control of the public finances… we are absolutely going to have to provide fiscal responsibility to people.

“In other words, we are going to have to show the country and the world that the government can live within its means.” When pressed on tax rises and spending cuts, the Chancellor added: “Yes, absolutely. But that decision will come under a new Prime Minister.”

Asked whether he regretted having a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, Mr Osborne responded: “I certainly regret the outcome because I fought passionately to Remain in the EU and I warned of the economic risks if we left the EU… we made a clear commitment to resolve this uncertainty which hung over Britain for decades.

“I don’t think you can take the attitude that the people have made a mistake, you can elect a new people.”