Talking-up Scotland

LUDO THIERRY

Noticed this piece in the links offered by the wonderful ‘Nana’ today – interesting to see how both Johnson and ‘spreadsheet Phil’ have altered relative positions since the article was written in 2013. Bit embarrassing for Johnson to be quite so brutally reminded of his oh so flexible beliefs. Link and snippets below:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10052646/Quitting-the-EU-wont-solve-our-problems-says-Boris-Johnson.html

Writing for The Daily Telegraph, he (Johnson) says that if Britain left the EU, “we would have to recognise that most of our problems are not caused” by Brussels.

However, the London Mayor claims the “question of EU membership is no longer of key importance to the destiny of this country”. The political row risks overshadowing more important weaknesses in the economy.

In his article today, Mr Johnson… warns that Britain’s problems will not be solved by simply leaving the EU as many of his Conservative colleagues apparently believe.

“If we left the EU, we would end this sterile debate, and we would have to recognise that most of our problems are not caused by “Bwussels”, but by chronic British short-termism, inadequate management, sloth, low skills, a culture of easy gratification and underinvestment in both human and physical capital and infrastructure,” the London Mayor says.

“Why are we still, person for person, so much less productive than the Germans? That is now a question more than a century old, and the answer is nothing to do with the EU. In or out of the EU, we must have a clear vision of how we are going to be competitive in a global economy.”

The London Mayor’s intervention comes after senior serving Government ministers confirmed that they would vote to leave the EU if there was a referendum now.

Mr Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said that he would… support leaving the EU without significant renegotiation of Britain’s membership.