Former British prime minister David Cameron has slammed home secretary Priti Patel, alongside prime minister Boris Johnson and other prominent leaders who backed Brexit in the lead up to the June 2016 referendum.
In his memoir For The Record, Cameron makes a withering attack on some of his former Conservative Party colleagues who he said shocked and betrayed him in their attacks on his then government.
He singles out Patel, who was an employment minister in his cabinet at the time and also the Indian Diaspora Champion, for her attacks over his government's immigration policies.
"It was the behaviour of the employment minister, Patel, that shocked me most,” says Cameron in his book, which is serialised in The Sunday Times.
"She used every announcement, interview and speech to hammer the government on immigration, even though she was part of that government. I was stuck, though: unable to fire her, because that would make her a Brexit martyr,” he said.
Patel, currently one of the frontline cabinet ministers as UK home secretary, was a prominent Brexiteer and member of the Leave campaign, which was led by Johnson and cabinet minister Michael Gove. She had made a series of speeches during the referendum campaign calling for a visa regime that did not favour the European Union (EU) over migrants from non-EU countries like India.
Cameron blames the entire Leave camp of stirring up a “cauldron of toxicity” with lies about the facts and figures around immigration and what the UK’s membership of the EU cost Britain.
He writes: “While we were saying membership of the EU was worth £4,300 to each family, the leave campaigners claimed Britain was spending £350 million a week on it. On May 11 [2016] they unveiled their liveried battle bus, emblazoned with the words, ‘We send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead’.
“It wasn’t true. As Boris rode the bus round the country, he left the truth at home. The bus was disingenuous, it was tenuous — but it was also ingenious. The fact that it was inaccurate actually helped the leave campaigners.”
In the book, which releases next Thursday, Cameron says that he is “truly sorry” for the uncertainty and division that had followed the 2016 referendum, and has suggested a second Brexit referendum or a vote might be necessary.
“I don’t think you can rule it out, because we’re stuck,” he said.
His memoirs come as the Boris Johnson led government insists it is determined to get a deal to leave the EU by the October 31 deadline.
“The entire machinery of government, now, is focused on getting that deal and is planning and preparing to leave on 31 October with a deal,” Patel told the BBC on Sunday.
However, the pressure on Johnson is immense because while he is determined not seek another extension to the Brexit deadline, he is now bound by parliamentary law to delay if a deal is not in place by the time of the European Council summit on October 17.
Davindra and Seema Misra, and Vijay and Gita Parekh
Varchas Patel with his father Vipin and mother Jayshriben
Hasmukh Shingadia and his wife Chandrika were all victims of the Horizon scandal
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)