Hammond to Johnson: Apologize for Blaming Us for Brexit Leak

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Former U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond may be out of government, but he’s determined to remain a thorn in Boris Johnson’s side. And he wants an apology on behalf of all the ministers ushered out when the new prime minister came to power.

In a terse letter posted on Twitter, he took offense at Johnson’s handling of the leak of a government Brexit document that predicted food, fuel and medicine shortages and disruption at ports if it crashes out of the European Union. He cited media reports that said the Yellowhammer dossier was "deliberately leaked by a former minister in an attempt to influence discussions with EU leaders.”

Hammond quit before he could be fired but Johnson also purged many other ministers from the Cabinet when he came to office last month. The former chancellor is a leading critic of Johnson’s hard-line approach that the U.K. will leave the EU on Oct. 31 come what may, downplaying the economic damage it could unleash.

He felt the finger pointed at him and wants to clear his name.

The August date on the document meant that any former ministers wouldn’t have had access to it, Hammond said. "Accordingly, I am writing on behalf of all former ministers in the last administration to ask you to withdraw these allegations which question our integrity, acknowledge that no former minister could have leaked this document, and apologize for the misleading briefing from No. 10.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-Jackson

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