Michael Portillo has launched an extraordinary attack on the editor of the Financial Times for his newspaper lacking patriotism in its reporting of Brexit.
The former Conservative minister told FT boss Lionel Barber the pinkâuns coverage of the UKâs decision to leave the EU was âreally depressingâ.
The FT on Wednesday revealed its analysis that a Brexit âdivorce billâ would cost âŹ100 billion (ÂŁ84bn).
âYouâre meant to be a British newspaper,â an incensed Portillo said on the BBCâs âThis Weekâ. âWhereâs the national interest in all this?â
Read the exchange in full, below. Watch the clip, above.
The exchange comes after Brexit Secretary David Davis said the UK wouldnât pay the estimated ÂŁ84bn demand.
Davis said the UK would pay what was legally due, in line with its rights and obligations, but not simply âwhat the EU wantsâ.
âVoice of doomâ
The FT has long-been criticised by ardent Brexit supporters for its reporting of the economic and financial consequences of last Juneâs referendum.
The Daily Mail newspaper has been one of the FTâs most vocal critics on Brexit, with several feature-length articles devoted to Barber and the paperâs reporting.
The Mail regularly describes the paper as âthe voice of doomâ.
And one headline on an article published last year read: âLegion DisâHonneur: Editor of the Financial Times gets top French award... for talking down Britainâ.
It came after Barber was offered a prestigious French accolade for having a âpositive role in the European debateâ.
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