David Cameron and Boris Johnson leave St Paul's Cathedral in central London after attending a memorial service in memory of the 52 victims of the 7/7 London attacks on July 07, 2015. AFP / Jack Taylor
LONDON: Former British Prime Minister David Cameron says current officeholder Boris Johnson didn't really believe in Brexit when he led the 2016 referendum to take Britain out of the European Union.
Cameron made the charge to The Times in a story published Sunday as he seeks publicity for his upcoming memoir. He says of Johnson: "The conclusion I am left with is that he risked an outcome he didn't believe in because it would help his political career."
For his part, Johnson compared himself to the ultra-strong comic-book and film character The Incredible Hulk in a separate newspaper interview.
Cameron called the referendum and then stepped down when he failed to convince voters to stay in the EU. He had expected Johnson to support his position, but Johnson became one of the leaders of the pro-Brexit camp.
Johnson did not comment Sunday on Cameron's claim, instead comparing himself to the Hulk as he described his commitment to making Brexit happen by the Oct. 31 deadline rather than seeking another delay.
"The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets," Johnson told The Mail on Sunday.
Johnson remains defiant even though Parliament has passed a law requiring him to seek an extension if there is no deal by mid-October. He says he will not do that under any circumstances.
On Monday, Johnson is to have a rare face-to-face meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg. The goal is to see if there can be any progress in the extremely difficult Brexit negotiations, which have failed to produce a deal that can win the backing of Britain's Parliament.
Europe's leaders did not react favorably to Johnson's invocation of a comic book character. The European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, said the comments showed a lack of maturity.
"Even to Trumpian standards the Hulk comparison is infantile," he tweeted. "Is the EU supposed to be scared by this? The British public impressed?"
Juncker also expressed concern that many people in Britain seem to feel a British departure without a deal with the EU would be a positive thing.
"It would be terrible chaos," he said in an interview with Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio. "And we would need years to put things back in order."
