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 pinkβuns coverage of the UKβs decision to leave the EU was βreally depressingβ.
The FT on Wednesday revealed its analysis that a Brexit βdivorce billβ would cost β¬100 billion (Β£84bn).
βYouβre meant to be a British newspaper,β an incensed Portillo said on the BBCβs βThis Weekβ. βWhereβs the national interest in all this?β
Read the exchange in full, below. Watch the clip, above.
The exchange comes after Brexit Secretary David Davis said the UK wouldnβt pay the estimated Β£84bn demand.
Davis said the UK would pay what was legally due, in line with its rights and obligations, but not simply βwhat the EU wantsβ.
βVoice of doomβ
The FT has long-been criticised by ardent Brexit supporters for its reporting of the economic and financial consequences of last Juneβs referendum.
The Daily Mail newspaper has been one of the FTβs most vocal critics on Brexit, with several feature-length articles devoted to Barber and the paperβs reporting.
The Mail regularly describes the paper as βthe voice of doomβ.
And one headline on an article published last year read: βLegion DisβHonneur: Editor of the Financial Times gets top French award... for talking down Britainβ.
It came after Barber was offered a prestigious French accolade for having a βpositive role in the European debateβ.
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