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Boris Johnson is taking Britain towards a No Deal Brexit without a popular mandate.

The new PM has brought the country into a position which his own government departments have warned will be catastrophic.

The Bank of England has warned crashing out could plunge the economy into recession, while the Office for Budget Responsibility has said borrowing would have to double to almost £60billion to absorb the hit.

And, as we reveal here, even Brexit’s most ardent supporters did not advocate the move during the 2016 referendum campaign.

In fact, Johnson said a deal would be easy to do before, during and after the referendum.

Brexit high priest Nigel Farage said Britain should become like Norway or Switzerland – a plan which would have seen us pursue the softest Brexit possible and agree a trade deal.

Dominic Raab has insisted it was made clear during the campaign that if a “good deal” wasn’t possible, we should go on and “make a success of Brexit”.

But the Foreign Secretary has been accused of misleading the public over the claim and MPs, including former foreign office minister Ben Bradshaw and foreign affairs select committee member Ian Murray, have demanded an apology.

The truth is that during the referendum campaign, and even in the aftermath of the vote, senior Tories and leading Brexiteers were falling over each other to insist a free trade deal would be struck easily with the EU.

Here, we look at how key figures have changed their tune.

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister

(Image: Getty Images)

Before the referendum: “Our relationship with the EU is already very well developed. It doesn’t seem to me to be very hard to do a free trade deal very rapidly indeed.”

“All those who say that there would be barriers to trade with Europe if we were to do a Brexit, do you seriously believe that they would put up tariffs against UK produce of any kind, when they know how much they want to sell us their cake, their champagne, their cheese from France? It is totally and utterly absurd.”

As Foreign Secretary he told the House of Commons in July 2017: “There is no plan for no deal because we are going to get a great deal.”

Now: “If our partners won’t move, won’t take out the backstop, won’t even begin to change that Withdrawal Agreement, they won’t compromise at all, then of course we have got to get ready for no deal.”

Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Before the referendum: “We’re the fifth biggest economy in the world. European firms sell us £59bn more than we sell them. Of course we’d strike a new deal, and relatively soon, with transitional arrangements if necessary.”

“We’d cut a very good deal and it’s certainly not in the Europeans’ interest to erect trade barriers.”

Now: “We made clear - those in the campaign - that we should strive for a good deal but, if that wasn’t available, that we should go on and make a success of Brexit.”

“There’s all sorts of interviews which said that of course we’d prefer a deal, but that there would be a risk.”

Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Before the referendum: “No-one is seriously arguing that Britain would be outside that free trade area, that tariff barriers would be erected and that Britain’s manufacturing goods would be at a disadvantage.”

“Outside the EU, we would still benefit from the free trade zone which stretches from Iceland to the Russian border.”

As recently as March this year he said: “We didn’t vote to leave without a deal. That wasn’t the message of the campaign I helped lead.

“During that campaign, we said we should do a deal with the EU and be part of the network of free trade deals that covers all Europe, from Iceland to Turkey.”

Now: “The EU’s leaders have, so far, said they will not change their approach – it’s the unreformed withdrawal agreement, take it or leave it.

“We still hope they will change their minds, but we must operate on the assumption that they will not.”

Sajid Javid, Chancellor of the Exchequer

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Before the referendum (as a reluctant remainer): “Ignore the scare stories about a vindictive EU snubbing the UK – it simply couldn’t afford to, and an agreement letting the UK maintain its current level of access to EU markets would, eventually, materialise.

“When a deal is reached, it may require us to accept the same blizzard of regulations that’s imposed by Brussels not just on member states, but on countries like Norway and Switzerland that need access to European markets.”

Now: “In 95 days we’ll be out of the EU. If we can’t leave with a good deal, we’ll have to leave without one.”

“In my first day in office as Chancellor, I tasked officials to urgently identify where more money needs to be invested to get Britain fully ready to leave on October 31 – deal or no deal.”

Daniel Hannan, Conservative MEP

(Image: PA)

Before the referendum: “Absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the Single Market”

Now: “Australia is offering us a free trade deal, Brazil is offering us a free trade deal, China is offering us a free trade deal, the US is offering us a free trade deal. In fact, the only major economy NOT offering us a free trade deal is the EU. Time to switch partners?”

Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader

(Image: REUTERS)

Before the referendum: “Wouldn’t it be terrible if we were really like Norway and Switzerland? Really? They’re rich. They’re happy. They’re self-governing.”

Now: “The public doesn’t want a deal and certainly not the deal Mrs May is talking about – permanent customs union, alignment with the single market. The public wants us to leave and to get on with the rest of our lives.”

Liam Fox, Former International Trade Secretary

(Image: REUTERS)

July 2017: “The free trade agreement that we will have to do with the European Union should be one of the easiest in human history.

“We are already beginning with zero tariffs, and we are already beginning at the point of maximal regulatory equivalence, as it is called. In other words, our rules and our laws are exactly the same.”

Now: “It’s not good enough to simply say we are going to have a no-deal; we need to prepare about it, that’s what government is all about.”