Sir John Major attacks Johnson and Gove’s ‘squalid’ campaign as Cameron joins Harman onstage for Remain

Michael Gove appeared to admit it might take five years for Britain to leave the EU - a stance that was later clarified

Former Conservative prime minister John Major attacked the Brexit campaign on Sunday's 'Andrew Marr Show' (Reuters)

The former Prime Minister Sir John Major yesterday launched a scathing attack on Boris Johnson and Michael Gove accusing them of running a “squalid” and “depressing” campaign that was intent on “misleading” the British people.

In a remarkable interview, which Leave campaigners suggested was orchestrated by Downing Street, Sir John rubbished a series of claims by the supporters of Brexit as “deceitful”.

He also failed to dismiss the possibility of the Conservative Party splitting over Europe and accused Mr Johnson of putting his own desire to be Prime Minister ahead of party loyalty.

Today David Cameron will join Harriet Harman, Tim Farron and Natalie Bennett in a show of cross-party unity at a joint event to accuse the leave campaign of “perpetuating an economic con-trick” on the British people.

However the omission of Jeremy Corbyn – or any other current Labour front benchers from the line up - will fuel concern that the party is running a lacklustre campaign.

"It seems as if we are just enjoying the fight between them but that is not putting Labour's position," the former deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott told BBC One's Sunday Politics.

"We are not putting Labour's arguments."

This was denied by Mr Corbyn who said he was touring the country to make the case for remain.

"People tell me much of the criticism that is levelled at me is unfair and I think that fits into that category," he said.

In his interview on the Marr Show Sir John described Boris Johnson as a "court jester" and said the NHS would be "about as safe" in the hands of Mr Johnson, the Justice Secretary and former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith as a "pet hamster would be with a hungry python".

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"I am angry at the way the British people are being misled,” he said.

“This is going to affect people, their livelihoods, their future, for a very long time to come and if they are given honest straightforward facts and they decide to leave, then that is the decision the British people take.

"But if they decide to leave on the basis of inaccurate information, inaccurate information known to be inaccurate, then I regard that as deceitful."

“On the economy and what would happen if we actually left, the Leave campaign have said absolutely nothing to the British people and what they have said about leaving is fundamentally dishonest and it's dishonest about the cost of Europe.

"And on the subject that they have veered towards, having lost the economic argument, of immigration, I think their campaign is verging on the squalid."

On the same programme Mr Johnson dismissed Sir John's assessment, insisting it was "not true" that the Leave's claims about Britain sending £350 million a week to Brussels was "fictitious" or the campaign was "squalid".

Mr Johnson said it was "absolute nonsense" that he was backing Brexit out of personal leadership ambitions.

"Obviously there is going to be a temptation by one side or the other to try to turn it into a personality-driven conversation. My view about the EU has changed but that is because the EU has changed out of all recognition."

Mr Johnson claimed the UK's population could rise "inexorably", potentially as high as 80 million.

Later Michael Gove appeared to admit it might take five years for Britain to leave the EU and would not put a date on when the Tories would meet their pledge to bring immigration down to the tens of thousands a year.

He told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "We wouldn't have left the European Union by the end of this Parliament but we would in due course bring it down to tens of thousands.

"I wouldn't set a time limit for it but the ambition would be to bring it down to tens of thousands."

Harriet Harman said this would result in half a decade of uncertainty.

"The Leave campaign are making it up as they go along,” she said.

“They say they will deliver promises by 2020, but then they admit that we wouldn't have left Europe by 2020.

"This admission from the Leave campaign that our economy would face years and years of uncertainty after a vote to leave shows exactly why quitting Europe is a leap in the dark that would put jobs and our children's future at risk.

But later Mr Gove’s spokesman suggested he had misspoke.

“Michael got his words tangled,” he said.

“Of course we’ll have left the EU by 2020. He meant that building the new UK-EU relationship will take time, it will be an on-going process and there’ll obviously still be issues to resolve in 2020.”