Boris Johnson has said “it was wrong of the Government” to not explain to the electorate how Brexit would work.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, in his first column since pulling out of the Tory leadership race, the blond Brexiteer said that “among a section of the population” there has been “a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning” since the vote to leave.
He said the recent protests and crowds of young people is “not about the EU project per se”, but about them and “their own fears and anxieties that are now being projected on to Brexit”.
Mr Johnson said these fears were “wildly overdone” and set out his “basic truths”.
“The reality is that the stock market has not plunged, as some said it would – far from it. The FTSE is higher than when the vote took place,” he added.
“There has been no emergency budget, and nor will there be.
“But the crowds of young people are experiencing the last psychological tremors of Project Fear – perhaps the most thoroughgoing government attempt to manipulate public opinion since the run-up to the Iraq War.”
He said it was time for the nonsense claims that the older generation had stolen the future of youngsters, to end.
He added: “It was wrong of the Government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing – in the event that people voted Leave – to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe.
“We cannot wait until mid-September and a new PM. We need a clear statement, now of some basic truths.”
Mr Johnson, in setting out his truths, said there was “no risk” to EU nationals currently residing in the UK and said immigration will continue in a “controlled” way – “neutralising the extremists”.
He also said it was “overwhelmingly in the economic interests” of other countries to work out a free-trade deal with the UK – with many economies from around the world already applying to do free-trade deals with Britain.
Mr Johnson said the country “can supply leadership in Europe on security and other matters” but at an “intergovernmental level”, adding “the future is very bright indeed”.
