David Cameron calls Boris Johnson a ‘greased piglet’ before backing Brexit deal

David Cameron has referred to Boris Johnson as a “greased piglet” but he would back the new Brexit deal if he was still an MP.

The former premier made the comments during a talk to promote his book For The Record in Harrogate’s Crown Hotel, North Yorkshire.

Speaking on Thursday evening, Mr Cameron said: “The thing about the greased piglet is that he manages to slip through other people’s hands where mere mortals fail.”

He then called on current MPs to get behind the deal and vote it through, adding that he suspects getting the bill passed through parliament will be “tight”.

The former prime minister added: “The country voted to leave the European Union, the best way to leave is with a deal, I think a no-deal Brexit would be bad for the economy and bad for the union.

“I think it’s much better to leave with a deal, and I think Boris has done well to achieve that deal. I hope he’ll get it through parliament, I suspect he will but it will be tight.”

Answering questions from BBC’s James Landale, Mr Cameron said: “At the end of the day, I think this is quite close to what was talked about in the 2017 manifesto, and it is a way of leaving with a deal, so I think that is the right thing to do.

“We can’t go on being stuck. You can’t rule out having a general election if parliament cannot pass this deal and is still stuck, and you cannot rule out a second referendum.”

The event was the first night of Harrogate’s literature festival and Mr Cameron was frequently heckled.

A small group of protesters formed outside the hotel prior to his talk and – at one stage, in a discussion on why he called the EU referendum – a woman stood up and shouted: “I think the good people of Harrogate came here to hear an apology from you.”

Mr Cameron described the years following the referendum as “very painful for the country”.

In his book, he claimed he “didn’t believe” Boris Johnson genuinely wanted to leave the EU but campaigned for it to further his career.

He added that Mr Johnson wanted to be the “darling of the party” and “didn’t want to risk allowing someone else with a high profile – Michael Gove in particular – to win that crown”.

Mr Cameron’s choice of words to describe Mr Johnson as a “greased pig” comes after the so-called piggate scandal in 2015.

It followed after an uncorroborated anecdote that, during university, he put a “private part of his anatomy” into a dead pig’s mouth as part of an initiation ceremony for the Piers Gaveston Society.

Mr Cameron denounced the story as “false and ludicrous” in his autobiography, following years of pointedly refusing to comment.