A shocked Boris Johnson admitted they had “no plan” on the night Britain voted to leave the European Union, a bombshell new book claims.
The Vote Leave campaigner said he “didn’t think it would happen” as Brits backed Brexit by 52% to 48%, according to Johnson at 10.
An extract from the book by Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell, trailed in The Times, reveals Johnson’s thoughts on the night of the referendum in 2016.
They said he had been up all night watching the TV at his Islington home and only towards dawn did he realise that leave would actually win.
A “pang of guilt struck him” when he saw pictures of Samantha Cameron on the television looking utterly distraught.
“What the hell is happening?” he kept saying, before it hit him: “Oh shit, we’ve got no plan. We haven’t thought about it.
“I didn’t think it would happen. Holy crap, what will we do?”
The book claims Johnson “still muttering” went off to write the speech he knew he would have to soon deliver.
Skip forward nearly seven years and MPs are still debating the consequences of leaving the European Union amid growing concern over the decision.
On Monday, a three-hour debate took place in Westminster Hall triggered by 183,000 people signing a petition calling for a public inquiry into the impact of Brexit.
Brexit has been cited repeatedly as the UK’s economy is expected to perform the worst out of any G20 economies apart from Russia this year and next, an IMF analysis has suggested.
Ministers have previously rejected a call for an official probe into the effects of leaving the EU.
:: Johnson at 10: The Inside Story by Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell, to be published by Atlantic Books on May 4 at £25. To order a copy for £22.50 go to shop.the-tls.co.uk or call 020 3176 2935.