The contents of a newspaper column written by Boris Johnson urging Britain to stay in the EU have emerged.

According to a new book on the EU referendum campaign, he declared: "Britain is a great nation, a global force for good. It is surely a boon for the world and for Europe that she should be ­intimately engaged in the EU."

His unpublished article for The Daily Telegraph was written two days before his shock announcement that he would campaign to leave.

He referred to warnings that Brexit could lead to an economic shock, Scottish independence and Russian aggression, according to All Out War, by Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman.

The book also claims Mr Johnson "wanted to punch" Michael Gove after he tried to ­apologise for knifing him on the morning of his leadership launch and that David Cameron would have made Mr John­son Defence Secretary if he had remained Prime Minister


The existence of Mr Johnson's Remain column, published in The Sunday Times, was known, but its contents - which contradict positions he has adopted since becoming Foreign Secretary, had remained secret.

Image: Mr Johnson wanted to 'punch Mr Gove' after the latter ran for PM

He wrote it on 19 February, two days before shocking Mr Cameron by opting publicly for the "Leave" campaign.

He had already penned one Telegraph column arguing the case for "Out", then wrote the "Remain" article as a way of clarifying his thoughts, before composing a final article backing Brexit for publication.

"This is a market on our doorstep, ready for further exploitation by British firms," Mr Johnson wrote. "The membership fee seems rather small for all that access. Why are we so determined to turn our back on it?" he wrote.

He also warned that Brexit would cause an "economic shock" and could lead to the "break up" of the United Kingdom.

The disclosures about Mr Johnson come as a new opinion poll suggests 49% of voters want Theresa May to prioritise favourable trade deals with the EU against 39% who favour reducing immigration.

But according to ComRes in the Sunday Mirror and The Independent, asked about reducing immigration, 48% of older people are in favour but only 25% of younger people.

Image: Boris was apparently warned that linking himself with Nigel Farage would damage his leadership hopes

Mr Shipman's book challenges claims that Mr Johnson was motivated solely by his ambition to be Prime Minister.

It reveals that Ben Wallace, the MP running his leadership campaign, warned him that backing Brexit would damage his hopes of replacing Mr Cameron.

Being associated with Nigel Farage, George Galloway and older Eurosceptic Tories would mean he was campaigning with a "cast of clowns", Mr Wallace - now a Home Office minister - said in an email.

Both Mr Johnson and Mr Wallace expected at that stage that "Leave" would lose the referendum, but Mr Wallace added: "The upside is that if the 'outers' win, then you will be master of all."

Despite the latest opinion poll evidence, the Prime Minister will travel to Brussels on Thursday and explain what Britain wants from a new relation­ship with the EU, emphasising that she would like "close links" but has to put immigration control first.

She will seek to maximise the gains of Brexit by launching a trade mission to India next month to pave the way for a new free-trade deal. The Prime Minister will take a delegation of small and medium-sized businesses with her when she meets Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister and opens a tech summit in Delhi on 6 November.

Ahead of her visit, she said: "As we leave the European Union we have the chance to forge a new global role for the UK - to look beyond our continent and towards the economic and diplomatic opportunities in the wider world."

But she faces a new challenge to reveal her plans for Brexit from an all-party move to force a Commons vote on the Government's Brexit plans.

Former party leaders Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, plus leading Tory Nick Herbert and Brexiteer Stephen Phillips will table a motion for a backbench debate and a substantive vote to force the Government to publish an outline of its negotiation plan to be agreed by the Commons prior to negotiations.