Boris Johnson has admitted he “deeply regrets” going down the Brexit route according to sources close to the former Foreign Secretary.
Matt Kelly, editor of The New European, revealed on Twitter that someone who knows Johnson very well said he now wishes he had sent the other letter.
The source said: “He knows he’s fucked up massively. Now he’s working out how to get himself out of the mess.”
Johnson penned two articles ahead of the Brexit vote before he shocked Prime Minister David Cameron by revealing he would be campaigning to leave the European Union.
In the unpublished Remain-backing article, revealed in a new book and published in The Sunday Times, he supported membership of the free trade zone.
“This is a market on our doorstep, ready for further exploitation by British firms,” Mr Johnson wrote.
“The membership fee seems rather small for all that access.
“Why are we so determined to turn our back on it?”
In a column wrote before the referendum was announced Johnson also advised fellow ministers to stop blaming Brussels for all our problems, saying if Britain left the EU “we would have to recognise that most of our problems are not caused by Brussels”.
He said: “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.”
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
