- 6 minutes ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:04President Obama has arrived in the UK for a three-day visit during which he'll make the
00:08case for the UK staying in the European Union. Leave campaigners have said he should butt out
00:13of the debate. We were in a very tough fight and a tough fight in which we felt the economy
00:22was
00:22the most important issue. Obama was very keen Britain should stay in the EU. He thought it
00:28made us stronger, safer and better off, to coin a phrase. He said, you know, well, what can I do
00:33to
00:34help? You'd notice that a lot of the arguments for Brexit were just crazy. I mean, false. I mean,
00:40they were lies. Well, I said, well, one argument they're making is that there's going to be this
00:43easy trade deal in the United States if we tear up our trade deals with Europe. And he says, well,
00:48that's obviously nonsense. Obama said, you know, you guys would be, you know, at the back of the queue
00:54and, you know, kind of as a joke in a way. And everybody's kind of chuckled. He said, do you
00:59think it'd be helpful if I said that? And I said, yeah, I think it will be helpful because it's
01:04going
01:04to puncture this Brexit myth. Some of the folks on the other side have been ascribing to the United
01:14States. Certain actions we'll take if the UK does leave the EU. And we were all in the campaign
01:22gathered around the television set, you know, dozens of us all, you know, in silent anticipation.
01:29I figured you might want to hear from the president of the United States what I think the United
01:33States is going to do. And UK is going to be in the back of the queue. Huge cheer went
01:40up when Obama
01:41said this. And we thought, wow, we've done it. He's clinched it. He's made the argument in one fell
01:47swoop. I was in the back of a black cab and I was following on Twitter what was the reaction
01:56to
01:56Obama's comments. And then the cab driver pulled his window back and he was listening to the same
02:04story on the radio. Are you hearing this, governor? Back in the queue. That's not very friendly, is it?
02:09I bet you won't be the back of the queue when they need another ally for the next bloody war.
02:13British people hate being told what to do by people who don't have any skin in the game.
02:20It was a reminder of how the Westminster bubble was just talking to itself.
02:36The vote to leave the European Union changed the course of British history.
02:42Ten years on, this is the story of how it happened, told by those inside the campaigns.
02:49I love that bus. I love that bus. It was a bus of truth, by the way.
02:52We had sort of entered the post-truth age of political campaigns.
02:57Johnson, you're a liar.
02:59From about two weeks before, I said, I think this thing's going to go down.
03:06Let's make June the 23rd, 2016, Independence Day. Let's do it.
03:27With just four months to go until the referendum, the British media had one obsession.
03:33Would Boris Johnson campaign to stay in or leave the EU?
03:39I was at our house in Colbert Row, and as the day went by, more and more press were gathering
03:50outside.
03:51So what starts as a sort of low hum becomes much, much louder.
03:59I arrived back at our house in Islington to find the whole place absolutely swarming with representatives of, you know,
04:10TV, journalists, everybody, everybody's there.
04:14I remember it being incredibly stressful, just not being able to control this press presence.
04:25I felt under huge pressure, emotional, psychological pressure, to come up with a decision.
04:33He walked over to me, stared me in the face, and he said, what do you think I should do?
04:38And I looked at him, and I said, what do you think, what do I think you should do?
04:43I said, you've got to be effing joking.
04:46I said, you know, I'm just the guy that smokes fags outside and does your briefing, right?
04:50The decision is yours to make, and no one else's.
04:54And there was a bit of harumphing, and he looked at me, and he just went, you're right, let's do
05:00it.
05:00In order to psych myself up for the ordeal of talking to the media, which I don't want to do,
05:07but they're all outside the house, and they won't go away.
05:12I do some press-ups in the hope of getting some, you know, endorphins or something so that I can
05:17kind of, you know.
05:18And we were heading to the door, and I said, hang on, have you let Dave know the decision?
05:23And he was like, oh, Christ, Cameron, let me text him, let me text him.
05:26Text Dave, a slightly emollient text, you know, trying to sort of cheer him up, saying that I'm sure, you
05:33know, I'm sure we'll lose anyway, but there you go.
05:35This is what I have to do.
05:40It was such a Boris phrase, saying, I know that Brexit will be crushed like the toad under the harrow,
05:47but I feel I have to support it.
05:50Hi there, hi there.
05:51The last thing I wanted was to go against David Cameron or the government.
05:57But after a great deal of heartache, I don't think there's anything else I can do.
06:01I will be advocating vote leave, or whatever the team is called.
06:06I thought it was a brave thing to do, and rather idealistic, in a way.
06:12None of us knew what was going to happen, and it was a leap in the dark.
06:17Anyone would think he likes the attention, love him or loathe him, you can't ignore him.
06:22Boris Johnson has just taken a huge political jump that could change this campaign.
06:27Look, it was a big blow.
06:29He had the, you know, a high favourability rating.
06:32He was listened to on this issue.
06:34It was going to make a massive difference in the campaign.
06:40The next day, Cameron prepared to launch the referendum campaign in Parliament,
06:45knowing his most dangerous opponent was now on his own backbenches.
06:51I don't think, at that point, he really believed in it.
06:54He believed it was going to lose.
06:56But he thought he was on a sort of bet to nothing by supporting leave,
07:03because he would be, you know, a sort of patriotic hero.
07:08I remember thinking it was nothing to do with the EU, Britain's place in the world,
07:14the single market.
07:15It was Game of Thrones.
07:16That's what Boris Johnson was playing,
07:18and he could see the Iron Throne right there, about to be vacated.
07:21Order, statement, the Prime Minister.
07:25Thank you, Mr Speaker.
07:27We are a great country, and whatever choice we make, we will still be great.
07:32But I believe the choice is between being an even greater Britain
07:37inside a reformed EU or a great leap into the unknown.
07:41So in the statement, there were some very, very clear barbs there
07:44which were designed to put the idea about that Boris Johnson,
07:48maybe he's just positioning himself so that he can get the keys to number 10
07:52when it's all done.
07:53Mr Speaker, let me end by saying this.
07:56I'm not standing for re-election.
07:59I have no other agenda.
08:02I have no other agenda than what is best for our country.
08:05It was clear that the attack on our campaign was going to be personal,
08:12and that the way they were going to try to defeat the arguments for leave
08:16was by playing the man, not the ball.
08:21It wasn't just the Conservatives who were divided.
08:25Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was preparing to give his first speech of the campaign.
08:31Jeremy wanted to use that speech to set out his own personal development on the issue of the EU
08:41because he was constantly being attacked for being a closet Eurosceptic.
08:47I was under a lot of questions all the time about it,
08:51and so I thought it's important that we actually stop this question
08:55of sort of corridor conversations the whole time with everybody.
08:58We sent the draft to him that was very clear,
09:01that's why I want Britain to remain in the European Union.
09:08And it would come back amended to that's why Labour wants Britain to remain in the European Union.
09:15Changed it around quite a bit, actually.
09:17Well, they're very keen on I.
09:19I'm not.
09:21There's no I in Corbyn.
09:23We.
09:24I was trying to present we as the campaign, we as the party, we as the movement.
09:36It's now a crucial democratic opportunity for people to have their say on our country's future
09:43and the future of our continent as a whole.
09:47As Alan explained, the Labour Party is overwhelmingly for staying in.
09:52I thought, well, at the end of the day,
09:55this guy is never going to give his whole hard support here.
09:59A lot of people saw the referendum as a cipher
10:02for their own anger at their life in our society.
10:08Going around and telling them to vote for the EU,
10:10which is trying to bring in more free market economics,
10:14isn't going to work and isn't going to cut it.
10:25With two months to go, Cameron sent out his troops to launch the government's campaign.
10:33So the four of us walked out into this big manufacturing hall
10:37with podiums lined up one after the other.
10:41The riflemen at the front of the battle.
10:42It was a big moment for us because it was us launching the number
10:47that we could then put on billboards and put in the adverts
10:50and put in the leaflets that would go around the country.
10:53The Treasury has run the numbers.
10:56Liz Truss wasn't Liz Truss then.
10:58She was one of the team on Remain.
11:13It was very clear in the EU referendum
11:17that people emotionally were quite attached to the idea of independence
11:22and standing up for Britain and being against Europe.
11:26But the thing that concerned them, those people,
11:30was the economic cost, the risk.
11:33The central estimate is that in the long run,
11:36GDP would be over 6% smaller
11:38and Britain would be worse off by £4,300 per household.
11:43It was all over the focus groups.
11:45And it went down like a bucket of cold sick.
11:49Why isn't 4,250 or 4,150?
11:52They said, how could you possibly know?
11:53Which, by the way, is a good question.
11:56This equation that's in the 200-page Treasury document,
11:58which comes to the conclusion that if Britain votes to leave the European Union,
12:02it will cost each and every household £4,300.
12:04You can't sit down with them and say,
12:06well, let us explain our economic modelling to you.
12:08Do you have Excel on your computer?
12:10I mean, you know, you can't do that.
12:14Try and say that out loud, because I'm not sure I could do that.
12:17It's...
12:17Oh, my God.
12:18Get your glasses on.
12:19Really?
12:19Yes!
12:29I went back to the team and I said,
12:31it's very simple, guys.
12:32We are never using the words £4,300 ever again.
12:37The Treasury got a real bashing,
12:39and I got a real bashing.
12:41But this is how we'd won the last general election.
12:44This is how Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher
12:46had won elections in the decades before us.
12:48If we vote to leave on the 23rd of June,
12:52we will be voting for higher prices.
13:02Vote Leave had produced their own figure.
13:07The point of using that really was to try and...
13:12to try and drive the Remain campaign and people running it crazy.
13:16Probably one of the happiest moments of the campaign
13:18was when it was all agreed
13:20and just knowing how certain people were going to react
13:24when we used the £350 million figure.
13:28Essentially, you have a powerful government
13:31that just won the election
13:31and had a very powerful ability to control
13:35how the media reported the campaign.
13:41Vote Leave now had their messenger.
13:44Can we do it?
13:45Yes!
13:46I think we can!
13:47And to attract non-Tory voters,
13:50Labour's most prominent Brexiteer,
13:52Gisela Stewart,
13:54was sent around the country with him.
13:56Vote Leave!
13:57Vote Leave!
13:58Vote Leave!
13:58Vote Leave!
14:00I had the first experience of what it's like
14:03to campaign with someone like Boris Johnson.
14:06Vote!
14:06Vote!
14:07Vote!
14:08Vote!
14:10Vote!
14:10People would be in upstairs windows,
14:13opening their windows,
14:14waving at him and shouting at him.
14:17Woo!
14:18Woo!
14:20Woo!
14:20You've got their hands!
14:22You almost got the sense
14:24that Boris's presence gave people permission
14:28to be enthusiastic about something
14:31which they were told by everybody else
14:33they should not be enthusiastic about.
14:37Thank you very much.
14:40There you go.
14:41Delicious!
14:42The ice cream.
14:43Cameras were there.
14:45We are given ice cream.
14:46At that moment, I start to panic
14:48because ice cream has a habit of dripping.
14:51A woman in the crowd just stepped out and said,
14:54Mr Johnson, can I eat your ice cream?
14:56Come on, you have the whole thing.
14:59There you go.
15:00It's a delicious ice cream.
15:02So these were the days
15:03when people were still so loving and trusting
15:07as to take an ice cream from my hands
15:10and eat it.
15:11So it was wonderful.
15:17Boris had sort of chuckled nervously
15:19over the fact that the 350 million,
15:21we send the EU 350 million a week,
15:23was plastered on the side of the bus.
15:26And I think he was like,
15:27how are we going to defend this?
15:29Let's deal with your arguments.
15:30One of them is on the side of this bus.
15:32We send 350 million to Europe.
15:35We don't.
15:35And you know we don't.
15:36No, we don't.
15:37Yes, it is.
15:37No, it's not.
15:38Yes, it is.
15:38No, it's not.
15:38Like, some comedy caper on the bus.
15:41Admit that that figure is grotesquely misleading at best.
15:44I won't.
15:44I won't.
15:45I won't.
15:46Dominic's view when we raised it with him
15:47was simply,
15:49just let them keep raising the issue.
15:51You're wandering around this country
15:52with a dirty great lie on the side of your bus.
15:54No, no, no.
15:54Because that gross figure is the right figure.
15:57Because if they say,
15:58it's not 350 million,
15:59it's 170 million,
16:01anyone at home is just going to be looking and thinking,
16:04170 million quid a week?
16:05That's a fuck-up a lot of money.
16:07This bus has a lot of miles to travel in the coming weeks.
16:09There's a lot of debate to be had on both sides.
16:12Tamsin Melville, BBC Spotlight, St Orstal.
16:15I remember having a conversation with the BBC,
16:17saying every single interview you do,
16:19every single piece of film that you use
16:22has got this in it.
16:24It's full throttle for the Leave campaign.
16:28You are allowing them to put their campaign message across
16:32that is not true over and over and over again.
16:36And I remember the person at the BBC
16:37just sort of like shrugging their shoulders
16:40and saying,
16:40what do you expect me to do about it?
16:42You can see Boris Johnson attempting to angle grind it
16:46into oblivion.
16:51Nigel Farage was determined
16:54not to let Boris Johnson steal the show.
16:57He was running a separate Leave campaign
17:00and took his own bus and message
17:02on tour around the country.
17:05Boris comes out and says,
17:07yeah, you know,
17:08I'm going to embrace Lee.
17:11And I said, well, thank goodness for that.
17:12He'll help get us over the line.
17:15But never for one moment
17:16did I think I could step back.
17:18I'd already been on this journey
17:21for well over 20 years.
17:23So we did it with a bit of noise.
17:25We did it with a bit of colour.
17:30Do you like the theme tune,
17:31The Great Escape?
17:33Because that's what we've got to do with it,
17:35we've got to escape.
17:36Who do you think came up with the idea?
17:38Nigel.
17:39He's a pantomime vaudeville act.
17:42Are you voting for Brexit, sir?
17:44Tell me where it's going.
17:4650-50.
17:47It's going to be really close.
17:53This bus was shit.
17:55To get it repainted
17:57was more expensive than the actual bus.
17:58It was falling to bits.
17:59It was a mess inside.
18:00No toilets, no seats downstairs.
18:02And a driver
18:04who should never be allowed to drive, ever.
18:09We knew that borders,
18:11mass migration
18:12were huge, huge issues.
18:14And we knew that we had to prosecute that argument
18:16because it was softer.
18:18Vote Leave campaign,
18:20particularly with Johnson on board,
18:23were unlikely to make it.
18:25We give away everything.
18:27We piled into immigration
18:29and the engagement was extraordinary.
18:31We give away our thoughts.
18:33The places we had chosen,
18:35these were all Labour heartlands.
18:37We realised that
18:38it was in the Labour heartlands,
18:40the working men and women,
18:41that felt left behind
18:42and disconnected from the political discourse.
18:45Thank you, Washington.
18:52Boris and I did speak on the phone
18:54very regularly
18:55through the campaign.
18:56Compared notes,
18:58talked about who was doing what,
18:59who was visiting where,
19:01so we did talk.
19:01I do remember talking once,
19:04at least once,
19:04probably at most once,
19:05to Nigel about the way the campaign was going
19:08and what we could do together.
19:09I said to Boris one Sunday morning,
19:10what about we all merge in,
19:12I don't know,
19:13Andover,
19:13anywhere you like.
19:15Oh, yes,
19:15he said,
19:15it'd be like the Russians
19:16and the Americans
19:18meeting on the Elba in 1945.
19:20I said,
19:21I hadn't quite thought of it that way,
19:22but I mean,
19:23fine,
19:24you know,
19:25and he was very enthused by it.
19:27And then he said to me,
19:28let me ask my people.
19:30I said,
19:30sorry,
19:30what do you mean?
19:32Dominic Cummings' view
19:34was that Nigel Farage
19:35had ardent support,
19:37but there was a ceiling to it,
19:38and that you would never win a campaign
19:40that Nigel Farage led
19:41if you needed more than 50%
19:43of the public to support it.
19:45There was a sense that
19:46there was a possibility
19:47that Farage could somehow
19:48taint the campaign
19:50and engagement with him
19:51was not a good look.
19:52I was really clear,
19:53Dom was really clear,
19:55everyone in the campaign was clear.
19:57Absolutely not.
20:00Cummings may not have wanted
20:02to join forces with Farage,
20:04but he wasn't above stealing
20:06his message on immigration.
20:08We are giving £2 billion
20:10to Macedonia
20:11Serbia,
20:13Albania,
20:13Montenegro
20:14and Turkey
20:15to join the EU.
20:20David Cameron now claims
20:22Turkey won't join the EU,
20:23but that's not what he said before.
20:26This is something
20:27I feel very strongly,
20:29very passionately about.
20:31Together,
20:31I want us to pave the road
20:34from Ankara to Brussels.
20:36I was at my in-laws
20:38in Wiltshire
20:40and I got a call
20:41from Boris
20:42and I went outside
20:43to the front gate
20:45to take it
20:45and when I
20:48pressed the button,
20:50I went to put it up to my...
20:51It was like that.
20:52I hated it
20:53and I was very angry.
20:55I thought this wasn't agreed,
20:56this wasn't what we wanted
20:59and I hit the roof.
21:01Have you seen the effing poster?
21:03Have you seen the effing advert
21:04from Dominic?
21:06You know,
21:06I've got
21:07Turkish ancestors myself,
21:08very proud of it.
21:09I thought
21:10to start casting it
21:11purely in terms of
21:14being hostile to immigrants,
21:15which was partly,
21:16by the way,
21:16sorry,
21:17the problem with,
21:18you know,
21:19the other chat
21:19we've just been talking about.
21:21Because he was all...
21:22Their campaign
21:23was all about
21:23being hostile to immigrants
21:25and that wasn't where I was.
21:27I put the phone
21:28on the gate
21:29and stepped back
21:30a few feet
21:31and I could still hear him
21:32and I went back
21:34to get the phone
21:35and I urged him
21:36to calm down.
21:36Everybody who knows
21:37anything about it
21:38knows there was not
21:39a catch chance
21:40in Hades
21:41of Turkey joining the EU.
21:44That wasn't going to happen.
21:46He said to me,
21:47I'm getting in the car,
21:48I'm driving back to London,
21:49I'm going to have it out with him,
21:50I'm going to have it out with him.
21:51And I thought,
21:52Christ,
21:52he's going to go,
21:53he's going to go round
21:54to Dominic's
21:55and whack him.
21:56I wish I had.
21:58God,
21:58it would save me
21:58a lot of trouble.
21:59That would be a brilliant idea.
22:01God,
22:02I wish I'd done that.
22:02What a fantastic thing
22:03to have done.
22:07I think I thought
22:08about resigning
22:08but in the end
22:08I just
22:09dissociated myself
22:10from that.
22:12There were moments
22:13in the campaign
22:13where you just couldn't believe
22:14what you were seeing.
22:16A sort of
22:17nativist,
22:18faragist
22:19bunch of
22:19claims about
22:21immigration
22:22that simply aren't true
22:23and the idea
22:24that Turkey
22:24was going to join the EU
22:25anytime soon
22:27was nonsense.
22:28I constantly said
22:29to David Cameron,
22:30we need to be clear
22:31on this.
22:31We have to make clear
22:33that we have a veto
22:34and that we would use it
22:36in any suggestion
22:37that Turkey
22:37was going to use
22:38to join the EU.
22:39It was very difficult
22:40because I was
22:41a campaigner
22:43but I was also
22:43the Prime Minister
22:45and there were
22:46important relationships
22:48whether with Turkey
22:50or other European countries
22:52that you're trying
22:53to think
22:54I have to think
22:55about these relationships
22:56as well as about
22:57the campaign.
22:58This idea
22:58that there was going
22:59to be a sort of
23:01reasoned debate
23:02just disappeared
23:04out the window
23:05and I mean
23:05it was a political campaign
23:08and it was a very
23:09hard fought
23:11sometimes quite
23:12grubby campaign.
23:18Good morning
23:19it's 13 minutes to 8
23:21the Sun in its lead
23:22says claims
23:22have been swirling
23:23around Westminster
23:24and online
23:25that Marina Wheeler
23:26was the QC
23:26caught in a drunken
23:27clinch
23:28with another lawyer
23:29at Waterloo Station
23:30last summer.
23:31I got wind
23:32of the fact
23:32that there was
23:33a rumour around
23:34about me
23:35I don't remember
23:37the details
23:38but definitely
23:38involved
23:39some knickers
23:40somewhere.
23:41Anyway
23:41first I didn't
23:42think very much
23:43about it
23:43and I thought
23:44well it will
23:44be obvious
23:45it wasn't me
23:45because I wasn't
23:46in the country
23:46at that time
23:48but then
23:49I did start
23:51to think
23:52people were
23:53avoiding me
23:54I was very
23:56very wound up
23:56by the personal
23:58attacks
23:59not just playing
24:00the man
24:00not the woman
24:01playing the man's wife
24:02and you know
24:04what kind of
24:05politics is it
24:06where they go
24:07for people's wives
24:10Dominic Cummings
24:12saw an opportunity
24:14we convene
24:15in Dom's office
24:16and Dom says
24:18this is Osborne
24:20this has to be Osborne
24:22and we immediately
24:24just explain it
24:25to Boris
24:26an additional
24:28kiloton of ivory
24:29entered his soul
24:31at that point
24:32I probably thought
24:33well it was solid
24:34you know
24:35don't get mad
24:36get even
24:37and I thought
24:38well we've got
24:39we've just got to
24:40win this thing
24:41and it was from
24:42that moment
24:42that he said
24:43I am prepared
24:44to go on TV
24:45tomorrow
24:45and talk about
24:46immigration
24:48George Osborne
24:49says it's utterly
24:50untrue
24:51he was the source
24:52of the article
24:53nonetheless
24:54Cummings' claim
24:55worked
24:56Boris Johnson
24:57took the gloves
24:58off at a crucial
24:59moment
24:59the day the
25:00annual immigration
25:01figures were
25:02announced
25:03we went to
25:054 Milbank
25:05where we
25:06do all the
25:07interviews
25:07for the
25:07various
25:09broadcasters
25:10and I remember
25:11walking up the
25:13stairs
25:13as the numbers
25:14arrived
25:15and they
25:16pinged into
25:17my inbox
25:17on my phone
25:18and I remember
25:19looking at it
25:21and thinking
25:21crikey
25:42he went and
25:44articulated
25:45and bossed an
25:47argument
25:47that was
25:49all the more
25:50compelling
25:51because he
25:52was a pro-immigration
25:54mayor of London
25:55these figures have
25:56just come out
25:57what do you make
25:58of them in the
25:59broad sense
25:59I think that they
26:01show the scandal
26:02of the promise
26:03made by politicians
26:04repeatedly
26:05that they could cut
26:06immigration to the
26:07tens of thousands
26:08we've now got a city
26:09the size of Oxford
26:10from the EU alone
26:12333,000 net
26:14from all around
26:15the world
26:16the situation
26:17is completely
26:18out of control
26:18the only way
26:19to sort it out
26:20is vote leave
26:21on June the 23rd
26:22and take back control
26:24I was very concerned
26:26about this
26:26because
26:27to be frank
26:28about it
26:28when we were
26:29talking about
26:30the economy
26:30we were winning
26:31when we were
26:32talking about
26:32immigration
26:33we were losing
26:35the team
26:36running the
26:37remain campaign
26:38wanted the
26:38prime minister
26:39to challenge
26:40vote leave's
26:41immigration offensive
26:43I said we've
26:45really got to
26:45make a block
26:46buster
26:46speech
26:47and confront
26:48them
26:49over this issue
26:50of immigration
26:51I think
26:52I was very clear
26:53I think
26:53Peter Mandelson
26:54was clear
26:54that it wasn't
26:55enough
26:56simply
26:56to go
26:58on
26:58the economy
26:59that
27:00while
27:00our economic
27:01message
27:02was critical
27:03it was necessary
27:04for us to win
27:05the campaign
27:05it was not
27:06sufficient
27:06I said this
27:07to number
27:0810
27:09they said
27:09no
27:10no
27:10no
27:10no
27:10we've got to
27:11stick to
27:12economics
27:13the moment
27:14we start
27:15talking about
27:16immigration
27:17we'll start
27:17playing their game
27:19the decision
27:19was taken
27:20that we shouldn't
27:21go out there
27:21and add more
27:22fuel to the fire
27:23that we actually
27:24needed to
27:24double down
27:25on the economy
27:26and wrecking
27:27the economy
27:28being the
27:29centre of
27:29our campaign
27:30now a
27:32referendum
27:32campaign
27:33broadcast by
27:34the stronger
27:34in Europe
27:35campaign
27:57we had to keep
27:59doubling down
28:00on the economy
28:01because that was
28:01the one
28:02issue
28:02that might
28:04switch
28:04people
28:04otherwise
28:05we're going
28:05to vote
28:05leave
28:08despite
28:08refusing to
28:09confront
28:10immigration
28:11head-on
28:11Cameron
28:12chose to
28:13share a
28:13platform
28:14with Nigel
28:14Farage
28:15hoping to
28:16expose the
28:17leader of a
28:17party he'd
28:18once described
28:19as a bunch
28:19of fruitcakes
28:20loonies
28:21and closet
28:22racists
28:23so we arrived
28:25for the debate
28:26with Nigel
28:27Farage
28:27in the
28:28prime minister's
28:29official convoy
28:31only to see this
28:32purple open top
28:33bus
28:34with Nigel Farage
28:35arriving at the
28:36same time
28:40he was coming
28:41into the green
28:41room
28:42and I was
28:43wandering out
28:44with a cigarette
28:45actually
28:45if I'm being
28:46honest with you
28:46so I said
28:47Nigel go
28:48put it
28:48let's go
28:48go
28:49go
28:49see them
28:49walking
28:50and so
28:51Nigel
28:52literally
28:52we're running
28:53to get to
28:54this door
28:54knowing that
28:55this collision
28:56would be
28:58news
29:00he sort of
29:03asked how I
29:04was
29:04and we
29:05exchanged
29:05pleasantries
29:05I looked at
29:06him
29:06and I thought
29:07I'll tell you
29:07what
29:07if I feel
29:09nervous
29:09you look
29:10really nervous
29:10you know
29:11the concept
29:12of doing
29:12something
29:12with Farage
29:13was different
29:14but on the
29:15other hand
29:16I was persuaded
29:17well actually
29:18having a moment
29:19where you can
29:20see what
29:20lies behind
29:21the campaign
29:23i.e.
29:24Farage
29:24and what
29:26the prime
29:26minister is
29:26saying
29:27that's a
29:28good contrast
29:35good evening
29:36there are now
29:37just 16 days
29:38to go
29:39before the
29:39UK makes
29:40a momentous
29:41decision
29:42to stay in
29:43or to leave
29:44the European
29:44Union
29:45first up this
29:46evening
29:46is Nigel
29:47Farage
29:47hi Nigel
29:48I know
29:50a lot of
29:50people
29:51I have an
29:52access to
29:53a predominantly
29:53black British
29:54audience
29:54and a lot
29:55of the
29:55concerns
29:56that they
29:56have raised
29:56is that
29:57you are
30:00going to
30:00increase
30:01the fear
30:02and discrimination
30:03of black
30:03British people
30:04through your
30:05anti-immigration
30:06rhetoric
30:06are you encouraging
30:08racism
30:08I don't think
30:09you could be
30:10more wrong
30:10and here's why
30:11I take a
30:12very strongly
30:12pro-commonwealth
30:14view
30:14I think it was
30:15very bad
30:16and wrong of us
30:17to turn our
30:18backs on the
30:18commonwealth
30:19in favour of
30:20a European
30:20political project
30:22well it's still
30:22anti-immigration
30:23so I don't
30:24I'm sorry
30:24I won't
30:25have that
30:25you are
30:25anti-immigration
30:26you have
30:26you scaremongering
30:27and inflammatory
30:28comments in your
30:29campaign
30:30that have gone
30:31against people
30:32that look
30:32non-white
30:34how are non-white
30:35British people
30:35going to stop
30:36discrimination
30:37about their
30:38identity and
30:38nationality
30:39in this country
30:40that is what
30:40I really want
30:41to know
30:41I'm sorry
30:42it was quite
30:43difficult
30:44with a very
30:45very engaged
30:47quite noisy
30:49studio audience
30:49to get through
30:50if you want
30:51to think that
30:52and you don't
30:52I don't think
30:53that
30:53that's the
30:54majority of
30:54people that
30:55look black
30:55British or
30:56non-white
30:56have those
30:57concerns
30:58well I can't
30:58do a lot
30:58unless I'm
30:59allowed to talk
30:59she's put a
31:00very clear
31:00question to you
31:01now look
31:01I'm explaining
31:02to you
31:02our current
31:03open border
31:03policy is
31:04damaging all
31:05of our
31:06communities
31:06and here's
31:07our chance
31:07maybe
31:08our one and
31:09only chance
31:09as a nation
31:10to get a grip
31:11on this issue
31:12thank you
31:14next it was
31:15Cameron's turn
31:16but the
31:17immigration issue
31:18didn't go away
31:20I voted for
31:21you in the
31:21last election
31:22because one
31:22of the things
31:23on your
31:23manifesto was
31:24to get
31:24immigration down
31:25you haven't
31:26been able to
31:26do that
31:26because you're
31:27not allowed
31:27to do that
31:28that's the
31:29bottom line
31:29I don't agree
31:30with that
31:30I think the
31:30biggest risk
31:31we can take
31:32is to pull
31:33out of the EU
31:33pull out of the
31:34single market
31:35damage our
31:36businesses
31:36damage jobs
31:37and there'll be
31:38fewer opportunities
31:39for our children
31:39and grandchildren
31:40and I say again
31:41I hope that when
31:41people go to vote
31:43on June the 23rd
31:44they vote to say
31:45we don't want
31:45little England
31:46of Nigel Farage
31:47we want to be
31:48Great Britain
31:48and we're great
31:49if we stay in
31:50these organisations
31:50and fight for
31:51the sort of
31:52values we believe in
31:58with a fortnight
32:00to go
32:00the Remain campaign
32:02sought to demonstrate
32:03another cost
32:04of leaving the EU
32:07two retirees
32:08on a morning stroll
32:10except John Major
32:11and Tony Blair
32:12were in Northern Ireland
32:13on business
32:14walking the famous
32:15peace bridge
32:16for a purpose
32:18the two former
32:19prime ministers
32:20argued a vote
32:21to leave
32:21would put at risk
32:23the peace
32:23they had painfully
32:24constructed
32:26so throw away
32:27the membership
32:28of Europe
32:29and don't be surprised
32:30if in the end
32:31as a consequence
32:32we accidentally
32:34throw away
32:35our union
32:36as well
32:37we say
32:38to the leave campaign
32:39very directly
32:40you have fundamental
32:41questions
32:42to answer
32:43about Northern Ireland
32:44about the common
32:45travel area
32:45about the effect
32:47of leaving the EU
32:48on the future
32:48make-up of the
32:49United Kingdom
32:51that night
32:52on national TV
32:54Remain drove
32:55the point home
32:56we've had two
32:57former prime ministers
32:58in Ireland today
32:59pointing out the issue
33:01there
33:01where once more
33:02vote leave
33:02have no plan
33:03for what the border
33:04would look like
33:05we don't know
33:06there is danger
33:07to the union
33:08as well
33:09for this proposal
33:10to leave
33:10there is a successful
33:11union
33:11and it's
33:12the United Kingdom
33:13there is an
33:14unsuccessful union
33:15and it's called
33:15the European Union
33:16what really
33:17really mattered
33:17was repetition
33:19of take back control
33:20Boris Johnson
33:22on June the 23rd
33:24we all face
33:24a historic choice
33:26to remain locked
33:28in a European Union
33:36it was destabilising
33:38to have them
33:39constantly saying
33:40take back control
33:42at us the whole time
33:43take back control
33:44to take back control
33:45take back control
33:46of huge sums of money
33:47being repeated
33:47and repeated
33:48and repeated
33:48take back control
33:49of our borders
33:49take back control
33:50of our economic policy
33:51our tax
33:52our trade
33:52and take back
33:53control
33:54of our democracy.
33:55It was a simple answer to a complicated question
33:58and it sort of implied to people
34:00that they had some sort of control as well.
34:04There's another one.
34:05It's dictating towards how we ran our country.
34:08I want my country back.
34:11As door-to-door campaigning ramped up
34:14in the final two weeks,
34:16Leib's message was clearly resonating
34:18with traditional Labour voters.
34:22People realise now nothing changes.
34:24That's why they're looking for an alternative.
34:26I know that the 1% in their ivory towers
34:28are just laughing their tits off.
34:30It became clear to me
34:32the Remain message was not cutting through at all
34:37in working-class communities in the Midlands and the North.
34:40Jeremy was continually campaigning throughout.
34:43I mean, he was actually probably more extensive
34:46than any other party leader.
34:48I mean, he did rallies in every part of Britain.
34:53I went to Aberdeen because I was told
34:55this is going to be great.
34:57People in Scotland are totally going to vote yes,
34:59you'll get a great reception there
35:01and they'll understand your message.
35:02OK.
35:03Those who want to tear up regulations
35:05are those that want to tear up workers' rights.
35:09We know which side we, the Labour Party, are on.
35:13OK?
35:14It ends up with a whole lot of people
35:16from the fishing industry turn up.
35:18They've seen cuts.
35:19They've seen austerity.
35:21Their kids are in debt.
35:22Their kids can't get council housing.
35:24And you expect us to stay in the European Union.
35:28The politics of the West Midlands.
35:32Fearing the worst,
35:33Cameron wanted Corbyn to campaign
35:35at more high-profile media events
35:37in the final stretch.
35:40There was a speech at De Montfort University
35:42where I stood aside
35:43and gave the platform
35:45to the leader of the opposition,
35:47to the leader of the Labour Party,
35:48and they didn't step up.
35:49I only actually heard about this
35:51sort of second-hand, basically,
35:53because it was...
35:54People said to me,
35:55Cameron wants you to speak
35:56in De Montfort University.
35:58I said, well,
35:59whatever Cameron wants is not my business.
36:07I came in at the last minute.
36:08I wasn't really supposed to be doing that speech.
36:11Maybe I was the fifth, sixth, or seventh choice.
36:13I don't know.
36:14But I ended up there
36:15and we had a good meeting.
36:1745% of our exports
36:19go to the European Union.
36:203.2 million jobs
36:22related to these exports to Europe.
36:25And if we lost these jobs,
36:26it would be a huge disaster
36:29for industrial communities
36:30who depend on them.
36:31Of course,
36:32if we didn't have all Labour figures
36:34working together,
36:35doing the same things,
36:36and saying roughly the same things
36:38at the same time,
36:39it wasn't going to have the difference
36:40it should have made.
36:42And from our point of view,
36:43a kind of approach
36:43which was favoured
36:44by the kind of traditional Labour establishment
36:48was really having no impact at all
36:52and was, if anything,
36:52turning people off more.
36:56With just eight days to go,
36:59Romain worried their warnings
37:00had not got through.
37:03Standing alongside his Labour predecessor,
37:06the Chancellor threatened voters
37:07if the UK left the EU,
37:09he would introduce
37:11an immediate emergency budget.
37:14There'll be a hole in the public finances.
37:16You've got chancellors
37:17from two different political parties
37:18saying that taxes will have to go up,
37:20spending will have to be cut.
37:21But that is the reality
37:23of quitting the EU.
37:24I was utterly committed
37:25to trying to win this campaign
37:27because I was utterly convinced
37:29that it was a disaster for Britain.
37:31Sorts of tax rises we could see
37:33include a 2p rise
37:34in the basic rate of income tax,
37:37a 3p rise in the higher rate,
37:395% increases in duties
37:41on alcohol and on fuel,
37:43a 5% increase
37:44in the basic rate of inheritance tax.
37:47Suddenly all these Tories came out,
37:49many of whom have been my friends
37:51in the past,
37:52and said George Osborne
37:53has crossed the line,
37:54this is outrageous,
37:55we won't support this budget.
37:56It was plainly untrue
37:59that these things would come to pass,
38:01which it promised.
38:02It was plainly not what would ever happen.
38:04We recognise that this is just
38:05a scary story,
38:06a campaign tactic.
38:08We don't expect it ever
38:09to be brought forward.
38:10It would be a repudiation
38:11of many of our manifesto promises
38:13and that's why we won't stand for it.
38:15Within hours,
38:16Steve Baker had got
38:17more than 50 Tory MPs
38:19to sign a statement
38:20threatening to bring down
38:21their own government
38:22if Osborne proceeded
38:24with his budget.
38:25It was a great campaigning moment
38:27to take the wheels off
38:29George Osborne's nonsense
38:30and actually gives me
38:31some pleasure to have done it
38:32given the contempt
38:33which actually I feel
38:34for that kind of campaigning tactic
38:36to have destroyed it.
38:37That's definitely the moment
38:38when, you know,
38:392nd Lieutenant George Osborne
38:41got out of the trenches
38:42and got shot
38:44by the machine guns
38:46on the other side
38:46and, you know,
38:47my own kind of ambitions
38:49to be leader of the Tory party
38:51probably died that day.
38:54With civil war breaking out
38:56inside Parliament,
38:58outside,
38:59Nigel Farage
39:00was heading there
39:01with an armada
39:01of angry fishermen
39:03who believed the EU
39:04was destroying
39:05their livelihoods.
39:09We had little boats
39:10that had come from
39:11Bradwell and Essex
39:12we had a huge
39:14pelagic vessel
39:15that had come down
39:15from the north
39:17of Scotland.
39:25But some ardent
39:26Remainers
39:27were determined
39:28to drown out
39:29Farage's flotilla.
39:31Blow me down.
39:33On board
39:34is Bob Geldof,
39:36Boris Johnson's
39:37sister,
39:38many of the great
39:39and the good
39:39from Kensington
39:40and Chelsea.
39:41Bob Geldof
39:41called and said,
39:43would I like to be
39:45involved in some
39:46crazed stunt
39:48that he was organizing?
39:50So I said no.
39:52And I said,
39:52why not?
39:53And she said,
39:54she said,
39:55because I don't want
39:56to just publicly
39:57go against my brother.
39:58I said,
39:59it's got nothing
39:59to do with Boris,
40:00it's about stopping
40:01Nigel.
40:04And they were trying
40:05to cut us up
40:06and so our boat
40:07was going like this
40:08with all these
40:09little trawlers
40:09and like wacky races.
40:13At which point
40:15the husband
40:16of an MP,
40:17Joe Cox,
40:18came swarming out
40:19from amongst
40:20all these barges,
40:22Brendan Cox,
40:23with his two kids
40:24with their in flags.
40:25Up them pipes,
40:26this huge,
40:27great big loudspeaker.
40:28You are no
40:29fisherman's friend.
40:31You were on
40:32the European Parliament
40:33Fishing Committee
40:34and you attended
40:35one out of 43 meetings.
40:38You're a fraud, Nigel.
40:40You're a fraud, Nigel.
40:42You're a fraud.
40:43Go back down the river
40:45because you're up one
40:46without a canoe.
40:49We were broadsided
40:51with rock and roll,
40:52you know.
40:54I'm in with the in crowd.
40:58I've got Woodstock,
40:59I've got Live Aid,
41:01I've got Glastonbury
41:02on my boat.
41:08And the harbourmaster
41:09keeps coming up
41:11to our boat
41:11and telling us
41:12to turn the music down.
41:14Bob Geldof says,
41:15well, there's only one thing
41:16to do at this point
41:17and I was like,
41:18what's that?
41:19He said, well,
41:19I'm going to ring
41:20the Prime Minister.
41:21He says, Bob,
41:22like, I'm really busy.
41:24I just sort of talked
41:25to him and said,
41:26I've got to get on
41:26with Prime Minister's questions.
41:27And I said,
41:29Farage is coming up
41:30the river
41:30to park outside Parliament
41:32with a load of fishermen
41:34and disrupting PMQs.
41:36He says,
41:36who told you that?
41:38Something like that.
41:38I said,
41:39what do you mean
41:39who told me that?
41:40We're there now.
41:41I wasn't quite sure
41:42what I was meant to do.
41:44So I think it was
41:44a relatively brief conversation.
41:46I couldn't suddenly
41:47call the Coast Guard.
41:48It's been in cash,
41:50talking trash.
41:51The volume
41:52was absolutely extraordinary
41:54and the level
41:55of personal invective
41:56and abuse
41:57that was used
41:58against me
41:58was huge.
42:06Sometimes things
42:07can be reduced
42:09to a gesture,
42:10you know?
42:10You can go like that
42:11or you can go like that.
42:13I go with the latter.
42:15They were these
42:15wonderful fishing boats
42:17with, you know,
42:18adorned with these
42:19kind of salty dog types
42:20and there we were,
42:22these metropolitan wankers.
42:25And suddenly,
42:26the fishermen,
42:27they're surrounding me now
42:30and going apoplectic.
42:33Really,
42:34I've never seen people
42:36so dangerously angry.
42:38And that's when it turned
42:39to Geldof against the fishermen
42:41as opposed to Geldof
42:43against me.
42:44There was one guy
42:46screaming at me,
42:48really alongside
42:49our boat.
42:51And I just said,
42:52well, come on board.
42:55You'll all be wrong.
42:57Then I will stand
42:58on this boat
42:59and I'll say,
43:00you are wrong
43:00and you are wrong
43:01and you are wrong
43:02and you are wrong.
43:03Not one of you, Lord,
43:04look like you've come
43:05and have self-end
43:06on sea.
43:08Everything in that man's voice,
43:11you know,
43:12everything,
43:12his anger,
43:13his rage
43:13about his future
43:14or the future
43:15of his family,
43:16everything was wrapped up
43:17and his loathing
43:18of me
43:19and all the people
43:21who were trying
43:22to stop Brexit.
43:23Boris will help us.
43:25No, he won't.
43:25He will.
43:26Referendum
43:27aren't about facts.
43:28It's all about emotion.
43:31And that landed.
43:34Traitor!
43:35Traitor!
43:36And that was the moment
43:37we won,
43:38I think,
43:39the biggest PR victory
43:40of the whole campaign.
43:47The next day,
43:49Farage staged
43:50another event,
43:51determined immigration
43:52dominate the final days
43:54of the campaign.
43:55I see poster trucks
43:57there.
43:58Over there.
44:03The more outrageous
44:05you are,
44:05the more attention
44:06you get.
44:06The more attention
44:07you get,
44:07the more outrageous
44:08you become.
44:12Well, joining me
44:12is the UKIP leader
44:13Nigel Farage.
44:14And let me put it to you,
44:15that is an extraordinarily
44:17incendiary poster
44:18to suggest Britain
44:19is somehow
44:20at breaking point.
44:22It was a very powerful image.
44:25It's an image,
44:26by the way,
44:26that if you used it today,
44:28you'd probably get
44:28very little criticism.
44:30Every one of these
44:31can get to Calais.
44:32We know how bad
44:33our government is
44:34at defending our borders.
44:35And within a few years,
44:37all of these people
44:38will have EU passports.
44:42While the media
44:43was going crazy
44:44about this poster,
44:45I got a phone call
44:47from somebody
44:48in MI5
44:50who was saying
44:51that they thought
44:52that Jo Cox
44:53had been very,
44:54very severely injured
44:55by somebody
44:55who attacked her.
44:59The Labour MP,
45:00Jo Cox,
45:01is in a critical condition
45:02after being shot
45:03and stabbed
45:04in her constituency.
45:05What alerted local people
45:08were the sounds
45:09of screaming,
45:11mad, loud,
45:12manic screaming,
45:13followed immediately
45:14by people rushing out
45:15to her aid
45:16with towels
45:17and tea blankets
45:19and such like
45:20to try and
45:20stem the flow of blood.
45:22She only spoke
45:24a couple of days ago
45:25about how excited
45:26the children had been
45:27to be involved
45:28in the flotilla
45:29on the Thames
45:29as part of the
45:31European referendum campaigns.
45:33Of course,
45:33nobody could have foreseen
45:34that this was going to happen.
45:37I knew Jo Cox well.
45:39She was one of the most
45:40tolerant, outward-going people,
45:42prepared to listen to everybody
45:44and wanting people
45:44to come together.
45:45The thing that surprises me
45:47time and time again
45:48as I travel around
45:49the constituency
45:50is that we are
45:50far more united
45:52and have far more in common
45:53than that which divides us.
45:55She represented something
45:56about tolerance
45:57and about understanding
45:59each other
45:59and about building bridges
46:00and about cutting across divides
46:04and yet this campaign
46:05has descended into something
46:07that really does no justice
46:08to the kind of politics
46:09and the kind of society
46:11that we want to see.
46:13This is the man accused
46:14of murdering her.
46:16Eyewitnesses say he said
46:17Britain first
46:18and this is for Britain
46:20as he attacked Jo Cox.
46:22That night,
46:24there was a conversation
46:26on the phone
46:26between myself,
46:27Gisela,
46:28Boris and Dominic Cummings.
46:30I do,
46:31I remember thinking,
46:33you know,
46:33my God,
46:34is this really,
46:35is it really us
46:36to have done,
46:36is it true
46:37that this campaign
46:38has released
46:40these appalling
46:41feelings in people?
46:42I literally had people
46:43coming up to me
46:44and telling me
46:45that I had killed Jo Cox
46:49and that's where
46:50it's really,
46:51really hard.
46:52All three of us,
46:54Boris, Gisela,
46:54and me,
46:55were upset.
46:57We were convinced,
46:58by the way,
46:58that it was over
46:59for the campaign,
47:01you know,
47:02with, well,
47:02you know,
47:07people will think
47:08this is a horrible,
47:10nasty,
47:12xenophobic campaign
47:13that's bringing out
47:13the worst in people.
47:14We all agreed
47:15we would stop campaigning.
47:18Do you regret
47:19your breaking point poster?
47:21Well,
47:21it said the EU
47:22has failed us all
47:23and it was designed
47:24for us to say to people,
47:25we do not want to stay part
47:27of a union
47:28that has failed on today.
47:30I'm used to criticism
47:32but that Sunday
47:34was of a different level.
47:36It was of a different level.
47:40Completely unfair,
47:42unrelated,
47:43but that's
47:43by the by.
47:46The Remain camp
47:47are using
47:49these awful circumstances
47:50to try to say
47:52that the motives
47:53of one deranged,
47:54dangerous individual
47:55were similar
47:57of half the country,
47:58or perhaps more,
47:59who believe
48:00we should leave the EU.
48:03I said,
48:04look,
48:04I'm really sorry
48:05that, you know,
48:06this happened
48:06at this moment.
48:09Didn't apologise
48:09for the poster itself
48:11or the,
48:11or the,
48:12the,
48:13the,
48:13any sense
48:14of what it was
48:15trying to convey,
48:16that Europe's making
48:17a catastrophic mistake,
48:19we shouldn't allow
48:20ourselves to be part of it.
48:21Um,
48:23but I apologise,
48:24obviously,
48:25if anyone thought
48:25that this was what
48:27the Leave campaign
48:27was about,
48:28which it clearly wasn't.
48:35The polls
48:36were swinging
48:37towards Remain.
48:39David Cameron
48:40wanted to resume
48:41campaigning
48:41with a display
48:42of national unity.
48:44I remember ringing
48:45Gordon with this idea
48:47that we should have,
48:48you know,
48:49the four living
48:50Prime Ministers,
48:51Tony Blair,
48:51Gordon Brown,
48:52John Major,
48:53and myself,
48:54outside Downing Street
48:55on Lecterns,
48:58Lectern each,
48:59explaining why we,
49:00as serving and previous
49:01Prime Ministers,
49:02thought it was
49:03in Britain's
49:03national interest.
49:04We would be stronger,
49:05safer,
49:06better off
49:06if we stayed.
49:07And I said,
49:08look,
49:08that will not work
49:09because why people
49:10are voting against us,
49:11particularly Labour voters,
49:12is they see it
49:13as an establishment
49:14stitch-up.
49:15It's nothing to do
49:15with them.
49:16Europe is some
49:16far-off place
49:17and it's not really
49:18benefiting their lives.
49:20I respected his arguments.
49:22He's a highly intelligent man.
49:24But I was a bit frustrated
49:25because I thought,
49:26look,
49:26it may not be
49:27the perfect idea,
49:28but there's something
49:29about the striking image
49:31and reality
49:32of people
49:33with radically
49:34different opinions
49:35about life
49:36saying we should stay in.
49:37And he said,
49:38we need a shock factor.
49:39And I said to him,
49:40look,
49:41we've had the shock factor.
49:42Joe Cox was assassinated.
49:50Instead of what I would have called
49:52an establishment stitch-up,
49:53I wanted a different proposal,
49:54which was all the Labour leaders
49:56trying to get the Labour vote out.
49:58That was the vote
49:58that was most at risk.
50:00And they would all appear together
50:02and speak together
50:03about the importance
50:04of staying inside
50:05the European Union
50:05and leading Europe,
50:06not leaving it.
50:08The call was made
50:10to Jeremy Corbyn.
50:12I said,
50:13absolutely no.
50:15Listen,
50:16Blair started
50:18my leadership campaign
50:19by saying,
50:20if you've got a heart
50:22to vote for Jeremy Corbyn,
50:23you need a heart transplant.
50:25And he was unremitting
50:27in his attacks
50:28and abuse on me
50:30the whole time
50:30and remains so.
50:31It was barely a decade
50:33after the invasion
50:34and occupation of Iraq.
50:35A significant
50:38section of the British public
50:40still regarded
50:40Tony Blair
50:41as a war criminal.
50:42It was the people
50:43that had voted for me
50:44and clearly voted for me
50:45as an alternative
50:47to Blair,
50:48the war,
50:49the free market
50:49and all the other stuff
50:50that Blair's so keen on.
50:52So, no.
51:05polling day itself
51:06was quite a strange day
51:08because 23rd of June
51:10was the date
51:12that my oldest daughter
51:13was graduating
51:13from St Andrews.
51:16and it was a difficult day
51:18because, obviously,
51:20Boris was there,
51:22very visible,
51:23attracting quite a lot
51:24of notice and attention.
51:26The atmosphere
51:27you got to cut
51:28with a knife,
51:29I mean, my goodness.
51:30I mean,
51:31you could not find
51:32a more Remain environment
51:35and, you know,
51:36they looked at me
51:37as though, like, you know,
51:38God, there's something
51:38the cat brought in.
51:39Things were dragging on a bit
51:40and I remember saying
51:41to Marina,
51:42we've got to go.
51:44We were miles and miles
51:46from London
51:47and miles and miles
51:48from the polling station.
51:49It would really not be great
51:50if Boris missed the polls,
51:54having led to the vote leave campaign.
51:57I don't think he would have
51:58heard the end of that.
52:02We eventually landed
52:03at City Airport in London
52:04with about an hour to go,
52:06we'll say.
52:07Boris said,
52:08let's go on the DLR.
52:10We rushed across to vote
52:12with sort of 15 minutes to spare.
52:14Loads of photographers
52:14followed us back to the house.
52:15We got through the front door
52:16and virtually the first thing
52:18that appears
52:18on the BBC special coverage
52:20is news that Boris Johnson
52:22has told a man
52:23on the underground
52:23that they're not going
52:25to win the referendum.
52:26And I remember looking at him
52:28and just saying,
52:28how many times have I told you
52:30don't speak to people
52:31on the tube?
52:33Good evening and welcome
52:35at the end of this
52:37momentous day
52:37when each one of us
52:38has had the chance
52:39to say what kind
52:40of country
52:41we want to live in.
52:43So the evening
52:44of the referendum campaign
52:46sort of started
52:47quite confidently
52:48because these opinion poll
52:51organisations were saying
52:53that they thought
52:54that we had won.
52:55The polling stations
52:56close after weeks,
52:58months, years of argument
52:59and we'll have the answer
53:01to the question
53:01that's haunted British politics
53:03for so long.
53:04Do we want to be in
53:05or out of the EU?
53:07When teleclock came,
53:09it's like
53:11all the adrenaline's gone
53:13and I said mistakenly,
53:14well, you know what,
53:15maybe the other side will win.
53:16Take this with a pinch of salt,
53:17but we have had,
53:18we've spoken to Nigel Farage.
53:20It's been an extraordinary
53:21referendum campaign.
53:23This is Nigel Farage.
53:24Turnout looks to be
53:24exceptionally high
53:25and looks like
53:26Remain will edge it.
53:28I sort of began to sink
53:29a little bit
53:29because there's nothing
53:31more I can do.
53:32I've tried so hard.
53:33The total number of votes
53:35cast in favour of Remain
53:37was 51,930.
53:43The total number of votes
53:45cast in favour of Leave
53:47was 82,000.
54:1367,251.
54:19I remember my daughter Nancy
54:20was sort of sitting next to me
54:22around this table.
54:22We were watching the TV
54:23and she sort of said,
54:24Dad, we're losing this
54:25and I could feel it.
54:27I remember going up
54:28to my own apartment,
54:29which was in 10 Downing Street,
54:30sort of lying on the sofa.
54:31My family were asleep.
54:32It was like three in the morning
54:34just going,
54:35everything is in ruins.
54:37So it wasn't just
54:38my own personal ambitions
54:39that were being,
54:41you know,
54:41going up in smoke.
54:42It was also,
54:43I felt deeply patriotic
54:45that my country
54:45was making a really
54:47terrible wrong turn.
54:49The British people
54:50have spoken
54:50and the answer is
54:51we're out.
54:55I've campaigned
54:56for something
54:57that everybody told me
54:58was a waste of time.
55:00I was wasting my time
55:01and a dream that I had
55:03and pursued relentlessly
55:06had actually come to pass.
55:08Let June the 23rd
55:09go down in our history
55:11as our Independence Day.
55:15In the end,
55:17Leave had won by 4%,
55:1952 to 48.
55:33I just felt
55:34I'd have no credibility.
55:35I felt that the country
55:37needed a new Prime Minister.
55:39Samantha agreed about that.
55:42I remember her saying,
55:43you know,
55:44gosh,
55:44I just don't think
55:44I can face going out there.
55:46I love this country
55:48and I feel honoured
55:49to have served it
55:50and I will do everything
55:52I can in future
55:53to help this great country
55:55succeed.
55:57Thank you very much.
55:59And I remember Boris
56:00just saying,
56:01Jesus Christ,
56:02poor Sam,
56:03what the hell,
56:04what the hell?
56:05And he was obsessed
56:06by her sort of reaction.
56:09Well,
56:10what I felt
56:11was,
56:13right,
56:16we're going to have
56:17to do something.
56:18It's going to have
56:19to involve me.
56:21I better,
56:22we better go down
56:23and give a press conference
56:24and try and,
56:26try and settle things,
56:27try and steady the shit.
56:33It was that moment
56:34when we walked out
56:34the door
56:35that I knew
56:36that probably
56:37the course of the country,
56:39certainly Boris's part
56:40in it,
56:41had changed forever.
56:46You know,
56:47suddenly,
56:47having been used
56:48to,
56:51you know,
56:51people being,
56:52people heckle,
56:53people shout,
56:55jocular insults,
56:56Tory tosses,
56:57but they were really angry.
57:00They were really upset.
57:05We managed to get
57:06in the car
57:06with the help
57:07of quite a few
57:08police officers
57:09and the car
57:11left the front
57:12and sped off
57:13down the road
57:13and at the end
57:14of their road
57:15there is a traffic light
57:16and it was green
57:18and just before
57:19he reached it
57:20it went orange
57:21and he braked
57:22and it went red
57:23and he stopped
57:25and instantly
57:26we were surrounded
57:27by protesters
57:27and really,
57:29really angry people.
57:32It was then
57:33that I,
57:34you know,
57:34I really felt
57:34the strength
57:36of people's
57:37feeling about this.
57:38I underestimated
57:41how deeply
57:42it spoke to people.
57:44For the first time
57:45I'd ever seen him
57:45looking like
57:46properly fearful.
57:47Not necessarily
57:48just for his own safety
57:49but for a sense
57:50of kind of
57:50what has this unleashed?
57:56Taking control,
57:57Boris!
57:58Obviously we were
57:59delighted that we'd won
58:00but conscious
58:01that we were embarking
58:03on what would be
58:03a difficult path.
58:04I don't think
58:05any of us realised
58:06quite how difficult
58:07it would be.
58:08Suddenly the people
58:09are looking at you
58:09thinking,
58:10you know,
58:11you're in charge
58:11of defence,
58:13you're in charge
58:13of tax,
58:13you're in charge
58:14of apathy,
58:14everything.
58:21To those who may
58:22be anxious,
58:23whether at home
58:23or abroad,
58:25this does not mean
58:26that the United Kingdom
58:28will be in any way
58:29less united,
58:31nor indeed
58:32does it mean
58:33does it mean
58:34that it will be
58:34any less European?
58:37We didn't have,
58:38you know,
58:39we didn't have
58:40a plan for
58:42what to do next
58:43because we didn't
58:44think it was our job
58:45to have a plan.
59:03Out of control
59:05Out of control
59:12Out of control
59:20and then,
59:27you 1-8 won
59:29Jenna
Comments