Lord Heseltine appeared on Sky News to respond to David Cameron’s appointment as Foreign Secretary in a Cabinet reshuffle following the sacking of Suella Braverman.
The former Prime Minister, who stepped down from the top job and left politics seven years ago, has been announced as the replacement for James Cleverly, who is moving to the Home Office.
Lord Heseltine spoke of David Cameron’s “sympathy” for the EU and how the British public “knows that Brexit was a mistake”.
Sky News’s Sophy Ridge asked the former deputy prime minister: “There will be people listening to this interview who think: ‘Look, Lord Heseltine, you’re almost the epitome of the Remain Conservative – David Cameron, as well, he was the guy who spearheaded the campaign – of course, you’re going to be pleased that he’s back.
“But what does that say to voters who voted for Brexit? Who deeply believe that David Cameron and yourself were taking the Conservative Party in the wrong direction and that you’re going back to those years?”
Lord Heseltine replied: “I’m delighted you asked that question because of course the British public now know that Brexit was a mistake and they know what happened.
“They were told a pack of lies, led by Boris Johnson and encouraged by Nigel Farage.
“If you want that sort of thing, if you want to be a part of a society that is duped into believing that the world is different to what it is, that there are opportunities for us that don’t exist, well then listen to the Boris Johnson’s of this world, listen to Nigel Farage.
“But frankly, the Conservative Party that I belong to is the Conservative Party of Churchill, Macmillan, Heath, Thatcher, who would’ve absolutely been appalled by the idea that we should turn our back on Europe.
“Among many of the benefits of David Cameron’s return to frontline politics is the fact that he is patently sympathetic to Britain’s position in Europe and that, I think, will be helpful politically to the Conservative Party but right for the best interests of this country and particularly the younger generation know that the severing of our relationship to Europe has done significant harm to their prospects.”
There are those who are against David Cameron’s appointment, with Ann Widdecombe saying she was “flabbergasted” he is back.
Ms Widdecombe told Sky News: “I have to say I’ve never been so glad that I finally found the courage to leave the Conservative Party.
“I cannot believe that a man who made a complete mess on foreign policy issues [such as] leaving the EU has now taken over as Foreign Secretary.
“He instigated a referendum believing that he knew what the result would be, went across to the EU saying ‘You’ve got to give me some change that I can take back and present as a reason for staying’; they didn’t, he couldn’t even get that out of them.
“Then he pegged his colours to the mast which most Prime Ministers wouldn’t have done, took the losing side, and then he left.”
