Boris Johnson accuses his sister Rachel of talking ‘absolute nonsense’ over her claim that he wants a No Deal Brexit to help hedge funds make billions as he admits ‘I disagree with some people in my family’ over politics

• He said Ms Johnson was ‘wrong’ to claim he was helping City traders 
• She accused him of backing ‘people who have invested billions’ in No Deal Brexit
• He admitted: ‘I disagree with some people in my family’ over Brexit

Boris Johnson went to war with his own sister today, accusing her of ‘talking nonsense’ by suggesting he wanted a hard Brexit to help City moneymen make a financial killing.   

The Prime Minister said Remainer Rachel Johnson was ‘wrong’ to claim that he was acting on behalf of vested financial interests who want to exploit Brexit to make money betting against Britain.

Ms Johnson, 54, a former Change UK election candidate, told Sky News last week that her brother might have been backing ‘people who have invested billions in shorting the pound or shorting the country’.

He dismissed the claims in an interview with LBC this morning as he did a series of broadcast interviews ahead of a speech tomorrow at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. 

In a separate interview with the BBC, asked about her claim he was pursuing a strategy to persuade people their democracy had been stolen, the Prime Minister said: ‘I disagree with some people in my family about the direction we are going in.’ 

The Prime Minister said Remainer Rachel Johnson was ‘wrong’ to claim that he was acting on behalf of various financial interested who want to exploit Brexit to make money betting against Britain

Ms Johnson, 54, a former Change UK election candidate, told Sky News last week that her brother might have been ‘people who have invested billions in shorting the pound or shorting the country’

Asked when he became a divisive politician, he responded: ‘I’m sorry but I don’t recognise that characterisation.’ 

Ms Johnson has used a Sky appearance to attack her brother’s strongman gambit’ designed to force through Brexit.   

‘I think that what we are seeing is an executive that is so keen to deliver Brexit in any shape or form, to get the country out of the EU, to deliver up on that promised land, that they will do anything to justify that end,’ she said.

Asked what could be behind the strategy, she said: ‘It could be (senior aide) Dominic Cummings advising the Prime Minister to be extremely aggressive and to face down opposition from all sides of the establishment in order to secure his position as the tribune of the people.

‘It could be coming from my brother himself, he obviously thoroughly enjoys being Prime Minister.

‘It also could be from – who knows – people who have invested billions in shorting the pound or shorting the country in the expectation of a no-deal Brexit. We don’t know.’

She appeared to be backed up by former chancellor Philip Hammond at the weekend.

He used an article in the Times to suggest Mr Johnson was ‘backed by speculators who have bet billions on a hard Brexit’ and would benefit if the pound fell further. 

Boris and Rachel’s father, the former MEP Stanley Johnson, is continuing to support the Prime Minister and has been attending the conference in Manchester this week (pictured today)

Ms Johnson is the latest member of the family to turn against the PM after his younger brother Jo revealed he was quitting as a minister and would stand down as the MP for Orpington at the next election. 

He said there had been an ‘unresolvable tension’ between ‘family loyalty and the national interest’. 

However their father, the former MEP Stanley Johnson, is continuing to support the Prime Minister and has been attending the conference. 

The PM defended his record in No 10, saying he had not changed his political stance as a one-nation Tory.

‘I say to all those who wish to see a return of the old generous-hearted, loving mayor of London and all the rest of it, that person has not gone away,’ he said.

‘I am a one-nation Tory.

‘But we are in a position where the only way we can take this country forward and unite our country again is to get Brexit done. That’s what we need to do.’

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