Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

No wonder Osborne didn’t want the EU referendum – it may derail his journey to No10

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”.

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