Damian Green has said he still believes the United Kingdom would be better off as a member of the European Union.
The first secretary of state, Theresa May’s de-facto deputy, was asked by BBC Newsnight if the country would be better off remaining inside the EU. “It would have been,” he said.
“I was on the board of the ‘Stronger In’ campaign. Nobody fought harder than me for ‘Remain’. I don’t resile from my views,” he added. “I argued against it but the public took its decision. It’s my public duty to try and make the best Brexit we can.”
Green was asked the question after May avoided answering which way she would vote if another referendum was held today.
The prime minister, who campaigned for ‘Remain’, told LBC she would not answer “hypothetical” questions.
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, who campaigned for ‘Remain’, refused to answer the same question three times on Sky News on Wednesday morning.
“Nothing has changed. We are not having a second referendum,” she said.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, a fellow one-time Remainer, has said he would vote for Brexit now as the economic doomsayers had been proved wrong.
Philip Hammond this morning risked angering Brexiteers when he said taxpayers’ money should not be spent now on preparing for a “no deal” Brexit.