Gove called “a bit nuts” by Cameron according to explosive memoir

A NEW memoir being described as a bombshell by British media has shed light on the fractious personal relationships between prime minister David Cameron and key figures in his former inner circle including London mayor Boris Johnson and pro-Brexit figurehead Michael Gove.

The book, written by former Liberal Democrat cabinet member David Laws, purports to disclose the secret details of cabinet meetings and one-on-one conversations between top level executives during the last coalition government.

Former Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg reportedly gave Laws access to his personal papers and notes on his time in office.

The memoirs depict Cameron telling Clegg that Gove, the education secretary at the time, “has gone a bit nuts recently” and “wants to become the darling of the tory right”. There is also the revelation that Gove told a private group of MPs that the prime minister’s decision to hold a referendum was “completely barmy”.

The memoirs also confirm less than surprising descriptions of how Cameron feared Boris Johnson was “after my job” and that there is a huge schism on the right over the referendum, Europe and the future of the Conservative party.

They come out as Gove faces further criticism over his apparent leak of a private conversation he had with the Queen in 2011. Gove has now said that papers who ran on the leak did not get “all” of the information from him.

Buckingham Palace is now at loggerheads with the Sun newspaper over their “Queen backs Brexit” headline based upon the Monarch’s alleged remarks during the conversation.

How much the memoir revelations or the Gove scandal impact on the referendum or even dynamics within the tory party remains to be seen as, at this point, surely all the cards are on the table.