‘We haven’t seen the Armageddon!’ Liz Truss leaps on Remain chief’s Project Fear admission

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And the International Trade Secretary has also insisted she was always a lukewarm Remainer who was now committed to maximising the benefits of life outside the EU. Mrs Truss made her remarks during an interview with ITV yesterday, during which she was asked about Lord Rose’s acknowledgement that the emphasis placed by the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign on the financial risks of leaving the bloc had been a mistake.

She said: “I think there were clearly statements that were made at the time which have proved not to be true.

“And I think in many cases, some of the benefits, the increased flexibility the increased nimbleness which we now have were underestimated.”

Referring to the famous phrase, she said: “It was Project Fear.

“But you know, this is past history, people made a decision.

“We are a sovereign nation. We left the EU, we haven’t seen the Armageddon scenario – in fact, we’ve seen a lot of positive benefits from being able to do, do things differently.”

Mrs Truss backed Remain five years ago – but claimed she had always had her doubts.

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She said: “Even before the referendum campaign started I I thought there were pluses and minuses.

“I was always sceptical about the European project.

“Having been through the campaign, having seen the results, I was always very clear that we absolutely had to deliver Brexit.

“And now was the opportunity to maximise what we could do.

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“So I never saw the point of leaving if we’re not going to use full freedoms the UK has now.”

Referring to her current role, which has seen her tie up deals with among other countries Japan and Canada, she added: “So this is why I’ve enthusiastically taken on the role of trade secretary, with a view to striking these trade deals and doing things differently.”

As for her own conversion into a Leaver, she added: “Let’s just say maybe it took me longer to get there than some of my colleagues, but yet.”

Also speaking to ITV before the interview with Mrs Truss, Lord Rose, who is the former CEO of Marks & Spencer and the current chair of EG Group, said he regretted taking the chairmanship of Britain Stronger in Europe.

Furthermore, he regretted the strategy of emphasising the dangers of quitting the bloc.

He explained: “I do remember that, you know, people saying that we’ve really got to hit people on the financials.

“The argument has got to be about finances and ‘it’s the economy, stupid,’ going back to the Bill Clinton days or whatever it was. And I think that was a big mistake”.

He added: “It was quite clear that immigration was a big issue.

“It was quite clear that getting your kids into school was a big issue.

“It was quite clear that getting a house and into housing was a big issue.

“It was quite clear that access to the NHS was a big issue.

“And I don’t think people really took it seriously about ‘Oh, well. You are going to be worse off’”.

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