Boris Johnson has reopened a row over his controversial claim that leaving the EU will save Britain £350m per week – insisting the figure was too low.
The Foreign Secretary has reignited the debate over the cost of EU membership, by claiming the Vote Leave campaign “grossly underestimated” the sum.
Mr Johnson, who spearheaded Vote Leave, attracted heavy criticism during the EU referendum campaign for travelling the country in a red battle bus adorned with the slogan: “We send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead.”
Rival campaigners disputed the calculation, claiming it did not take account of the UK’s rebate from Brussels or EU funds spent in Britain.
Even some Brexit supporters, such as former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, distanced themselves from the claim.
However, in an interview with the Guardian, Mr Johnson has again reinforced the assertion.
“There was an error on the side of the bus,” he said.
“We grossly underestimated the sum over which we would be able to take back control.”
In reference to Vote Leave’s suggestion of diverting EU budget contributions to hospitals after Brexit, Mr Johnson added: “As and when the cash becomes available – and it won’t until we leave – the NHS should be at the very top of the list.”
Responding to his comments, Labour MP Alison McGovern, a supporter of the pro-EU Open Britain campaign, said: “Our NHS is in the middle of a winter crisis and Boris Johnson’s solution is to return to the scene of his previous crimes and promise ever larger slices of pie in the sky.
“Boris’s Cabinet cheerleading for leaving the single market and the customs union will lead to less money – not more – for public services like our NHS.”
House of Commons figures show in 2016/17 the UK made an estimated gross contribution to the EU, excluding the rebate, of £12.2bn – the equivalent of £235m per week.
Including the UK’s £4.8bn rebate pushes the weekly sum to £325m per week.
Mr Johnson also used the newspaper interview to insist the British public are not “gagging” for a second EU referendum.
His intervention came as a new poll suggests more than half of Britons would back another say on EU membership if the UK faced leaving the bloc without a trade deal.
The BMG Research survey, for the Left Foot Forward website, found 57% who expressed a view would back a fresh vote in such a situation, with 43% opposed.
The figure represents a marginal increase on last month, when 54% supported a second EU referendum in the absence of a divorce deal.
In this month’s poll, nearly three-quarters (74%) of Labour supporters who expressed a view backed a second referendum in the same scenario.
At the weekend, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn refused to rule out backing a second vote on Brexit.
The poll was published ahead of the return of the EU Withdrawal Bill to the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Before the bill’s report stage, Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Lesley Laird and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer have written to Scotland’s Tory MPs urging them to vote for a Labour amendment addressing post-Brexit devolution arrangements.
On Monday, a delegation of pro-EU MPs held talks with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
Tory backbencher Anna Soubry, one of those to attend, said: “One of the reasons that we came over was to make it very clear that as parliamentarians we are not bystanders in the process of our leaving the EU. (SKYNEWS)
