LONDON — Deep disagreements in the U.K. Conservative Party over Brexit? Surely not!
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch continued the Conservatives’ EU forever war Thursday night as she accused David Cameron of failing to prepare sufficiently for Brexit as prime minister.
“One of the most disappointing things was becoming an MP a year later and finding out there had been no plans made about how this was going to happen,” Badenoch told business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry Thursday. “I think that was the real dereliction of duty.”
“If you’re offering people Leave vs. Remain you need to do your work, not just do the work for the option you want to win,” she added, in comments that could make for some awkward chat around the Cabinet table, where Cameron now sits as foreign secretary.
Cameron, who pushed for Britain to stay in the bloc, resigned as PM in 2016 following the country’s Brexit vote.
Civil servants were forbidden from preparing for a Brexit vote during the campaign, a decision parliament’s foreign affairs committee later described as an act of “gross negligence.”
Badenoch, a rising star tipped as a future Tory leader, voted for Brexit, and has revealed that the referendum split her family.
Cameron’s not the first Cabinet minister Badenoch has locked horns with.
The business and trade secretary reportedly criticized Leveling-Up Secretary Michael Gove, a former ally, over his stance on government plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Stefan Boscia and Dan Bloom contributed reporting.
