Ruth Davidson accuses Conservative Brexiters of ‘lying’

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson accused fellow Tories former London mayor Boris Johnson and UK energy minister Andrea Leadsom of “lying” in claims about the EU in a heated televised debate last night.

The BBC’s Great Debate, which took place in front of thousands at the Wembley arena, saw Davidson share the Remain platform with current London mayor Sadiq Khan and trade union leader Frances O'Grady.

Labour’s Gisela Stuart made up the Leave team.

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“They lied about Turkey's entrance to Europe, they lied about the European army because we've got a veto for that - they put that in their leaflets and they've lied about this here tonight too and it's not good enough. You deserve the truth,” Davidson said.

At one point, she said: "It's not the Boris show… Boris can you name me one country in the world that has said it would give us a better deal if we come out of the EU?"

In echoes of the referendum on Scottish independence, Johnson accused Remain of conducting “project fear” and “keep talking down our country”.

“Thursday can be our country's independence day,” he concluded, to a standing ovation.

Davidson had used a newspaper column yesterday to compare Johnson to former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Writing in the Scottish Daily Mail, she said: “In the puffed-up protests of Mr Farage and Boris Johnson, in their complaints about Project Fear, and in the blithe assertions that ‘everything will be fine, don’t worry your little head’, I recognise the brazen chauvinistic style of Mr Salmond – this time repeated for a UK audience.”