Of course Grayling is ‘peddling myths’ about the EU – he’s a Tory and they lie all the time
Green – himself no stranger to political falsehood – questioned how Grayling could say the EU was disastrous so soon after hailing the UK’s economic successes at the election [Image: David Gadd/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar].
Let’s also remember that one of his last decisions as a minister of state at the DWP was to roll out the work programme in 16 London boroughs – all notably affected by the 2011 London riots. The idea was that youngsters who may have been involved in those riots ended up doing 390 hours’ community service (without having been convicted of any crime) – but, of course, this was a myth as none had been proven to have done so.
Having established that Grayling is a recognised purveyor of the not-entirely-factual, we can relax and enjoy the spectacle of Tories trying to out-lie each other. They do this by presenting any outlandish claim that comes into their head as fact, while providing no evidence at all to support it.
So we have Grayling’s claim that the EU is demanding more integration because of the Eurozone crisis and migration.
Damian Green is a serial liar himself, so it will be interesting to see what counter-claims his side devises.
It will also make a pleasant change from having them bombard the public with their silly jibber-jabber.
The Conservative party has experienced an early skirmish in the EU referendum battle after the Commons leader, Chris Grayling, was accused by a fellow Tory of “peddling myths” about the EU following his declaration that membership in its current form was “disastrous” for Britain.
Damian Green, the pro-Europe former immigration minister, criticised Grayling after he became the first member of the cabinet to signal publicly that he will join the campaign to leave the EU.
In a carefully worded article for the Daily Telegraph, Grayling said the crisis in the eurozone and the challenge of migration had led to moves to create a “greater political union” in the EU.
Green challenged his former ministerial colleague. He told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday: “I think [Chris] is peddling myths about Britain in Europe … The key myth in Chris’s article is when he says there are calls for still more integration. It is a very explicit and very important part of the prime minister’s renegotiation that Britain won’t be committed to ‘ever closer union’. That is actually a big change in our relationship with the rest of the EU.”
Source: Senior Tory says Chris Grayling is ‘peddling myths’ about EU | Politics | The Guardian
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