Greg Heffer
Politics reporter @GregHeffer
Friday 18 October 2019 15:44, UK
David Cameron and Boris Johnson in 2016
Former prime minister David Cameron has given his backing to Boris Johnson's Brexit deal and suggested it could be passed by MPs.
The ex-premier, speaking at Harrogate literature festival to promote his memoirs, revealed his response on Thursday when a friend asked whether Mr Johnson's agreement would be voted through parliament.
Mr Cameron said he responded: "The thing about the greased piglet is that he manages to slip through other people's hands where mere mortals fail."
After securing an agreement with the EU in Brussels yesterday, Mr Johnson now faces the prospect of a knife-edge vote in the House of Commons on Saturday to determine whether MPs will support his deal.
Mr Cameron said he would vote for the agreement if he was still an MP, adding: "The country voted to leave the EU, 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."
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The former prime minister has previously voiced his support for a Norway-style agreement with the EU, rather than the looser relationship with the bloc favoured by his successor Theresa May and now Mr Johnson.
But Mr Cameron added the new Brexit deal is "quite close to what was talked about" in the Conservative Party's 2017 election manifesto.
He said: "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."
Mr Cameron has been on a promotional tour for his book, For The Record, since its publication last month.
In his memoirs, Mr Cameron criticises Mr Johnson's actions during the 2016 EU referendum campaign, when the now prime minister spearheaded the Vote Leave campaign against the government's Remain position.
On Mr Johnson's support for Brexit, Mr Cameron wrote: "He risked an outcome he didn't believe in because it would help his political career."
