Oliver Letwin: ‘Nine-tenths’ of May’s non-Brexit policy is inherited from Cameron
1 min read
A former minister in David Cameron’s government has said “nine-tenths” of Theresa May’s non-Brexit policy is inherited from her predecessor.
Oliver Letwin - who Mrs May fired when she took office - said Mr Cameron’s modernising agenda was “alive and well”.
In his memoir 'Hearts and Minds: The Battle for the Conservative Party', Mr Letwin also described David Davis as the “arch-Machiavelli of our generation of Conservative politicians”.
And he said before being appointed Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson “explicitly” did not support Brexit but instead hopes “a majority in favour of [leaving the EU] might precipitate a renegotiation and a further referendum”.
According to Mr Letwin, Mr Johnson also did not believe the Leave campaign would win. He added the Foreign Secretary “half hoped” it would lose.
He wrote: “The only bits of the [2017] manifesto that went wrong were the bits that were entirely new. After a brief six-week period, they’ve disappeared again.
“If you leave Brexit aside, nine-tenths of our policy is inherited from the Cameron days.”
However he also said Mrs May was the “right person at the right time for the right thing”.
“She’s a very good opaque negotiator. I don’t fancy the chances of those who disagree with her in the EU negotiations,” he wrote.
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