He chooses logic over charisma, Newsnight instead of Top Gear and the Financial Times rather than GQ. Jo Johnson, the science minister, is the complete opposite of his older brother Boris. Both are Old Etonian journalists who have the same shock of white blond hair, but Jo’s is neatly trimmed. Slimmer and more serious, he says he is a Roundhead rather than a Cavalier. He would never get caught on a zip wire, quote Latin to deflect a question or knock over a Japanese child on a rugby pitch. “We are different in loads of ways,” he says.
And on Europe, while Boris is Out, Jo is most definitely for In.
Last week we interviewed the London mayor and he compared himself to James Bond, battling the evil supra-national bureaucracy of the European Union. His younger brother prefers George Smiley.
“The European Union cannot be characterised as Spectre; that does it a real disservice,” he tells us when we meet him in his office at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. “It’s a body which is trying to manage the operation of this hugely valuable single market. It’s important that we don’t get carried away by the fanciful analogies and focus on the substance of the arguments.”
Mr Johnson insists he won’t choose between blood and water — “both are essential” — and he remains as loyal to his brother as to David Cameron, with whom he worked closely as head of the Downing Street policy unit before becoming minister for universities and science last year.
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“It would be wonderful if Boris were to support Remain but he has come to a clear, principled, settled decision,” he says. “It is good that there are now brilliant people on both sides, otherwise we wouldn’t have satisfactorarily settled it. The Out camp will have the most brilliant advocates that they could possibly have hoped for. The In camp will have brilliant advocates in the form of the PM and chancellor and others. We will have a proper debate that will do justice to the question.”
Although he sees the politics of the Johnson family as a “distraction” he admits they have been debating Europe for years. “We feel free to disagree. There are discussions going on in every family about this question and I would be surprised if there is unanimity anywhere.” His father, Stanley — who used to work for the European Commission — is a staunch supporter of the In camp and among the four siblings, who include Rachel, a writer, and Leo, an environmental entrepreneur, “Boris is in a minority, it’s three to one”.
Did he try to persuade Boris to support the prime minister? “We’ve been discussing it on and off. He’s got to speak for himself but it was clear he was evaluating the situation and wrestling with what was a very important decision that was also a fluid one. It’s for him to explain why we are better off out while I explain that we are better off in and safer and stronger. To me the arguments are overwhelming.”
After living in Brussels as a child, and working in Paris as a correspondent for the Financial Times, Mr Johnson is instinctively pro-European but he insists: “Mine’s not a starry-eyed Europhilia, it’s a realistic assessment of where this country is located and where our interests lie. We do a tremendous amount of trade in Europe, we see investment into the UK from Europe indisputably linked to our place within the European Union. We are now perfectly placed as the entrance to Europe.”
The prime minister is right, he believes, to suggest that Britain could have the “best of both worlds” if it voted to remain in the EU under the new terms he negotiated. “We have an arrangement that recognises our unique circumstances. That’s why it would be a mistake to jeopardise that.”
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Although Boris argues that the UK has ceded too much power to Brussels, his brother insists that the referendum is a way of seizing back control. “It’s a great exercise in national sovereignty to allow the British people to have a say, to renew public consent that had grown too thin,” he says. “This is a time for the people to speak. They will be listened to and that is a sovereign decision. It’s important now that we give the arguments a proper airing so we can settle this question for a generation and move on.” The EU is not perfect, he admits, but it would be counter-productive to walk away now. “We can only make it better by continuing having a seat at the table and negotiating.”
The older Johnson brother told us that the “FT-reading corporatist elites” favoured EU membership because they enjoyed “junkets” to Europe, but the younger one insists that it is ordinary people who do best out of belonging to the club. “It’s not the fact that the EU only benefits some, it benefits households across the country,” he says.
“The CBI has estimated these benefits at around £3,000 per household per year. Air fares are down 40 per cent, mobile phone tariffs are down. It’s so important we explain the pound-in-your-pocket benefits.” As for the suggestion of fat cats on freebies he retorts: “I could never describe a day and a half sitting at a competitiveness council as a junket. That is a misconception.”
The economic risks of leaving are huge, Mr Johnson argues. “There is no question that . . . where the big companies and banks are located depends on our position in the European Union. We provide a springboard into the European Union. We simply do not know if we weren’t in whether we could ever attract the same investment.”
There are also security concerns. “Clearly if you’ve got a stronger economy you’re going to be in a better position to protect your borders, keep your armed forces properly equipped and resourced. As part of the EU we can enforce sanctions around the world. Mechanisms such as the European Arrest Warrant mean we can bring people back into this country when they’re roaming around the European Union and our authorities want to interrogate them.”
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As the minister responsible for universities and science, he says that higher education would also suffer from Brexit. Because we have such a strong science base in the UK, we disproportionately benefit from European science funding.” Students, in his view, gain enormously from co-operation and shared facilities.
“A hundred years ago when Einstein published his paper on relativity he was the sole author. This year, when his discovery was verified it was signed by 1,000 authors from around the world. It is very striking how the evidence-based community is overwhelmingly convinced we are better off inside — 93 per cent of scientists when polled want to stay in. The vice-chancellors, over 100 of them, the vast majority, have also looked at the evidence and concluded that the knowledge economies would be better off in than out.”
Although the Outers raise concerns about immigration, Mr Johnson believes that universities benefit from having large numbers of international students. “We have the second biggest share after the US, that is a testimony to the quality of our system. It makes viable high-cost courses tha t would otherwise not be possible as they would be loss-making.”
Critics have characterised the In campaign as “project fear”, but the minister rejects the label. “I think we are very positive about Britain’s future in the EU.” The referendum campaign must be seen as a “fair fight”, he says, but he is not worried about civil servants being banned from briefing Brexit ministers on European issues. “I don’t think there’s anything underhand. The government has a position, which is that we are better off inside the European Union and the civil service by tradition supports the position of the government.”
He brushes away the suggestion that Mr Cameron was having a dig at Boris when he said with reference to the referendum that he had “no other agenda than what is best for our country”. He says: “I was in the chamber at the time and the prime minister was simply making important points. There is always a bit of rough and tumble in the Commons.”
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Many MPs are convinced that Boris decided to support the Out campaign to appeal to the Tory grassroots, who will choose the next Conservative leader and are overwhelmingly in favour of Brexit. “Look, as I said I don’t think those considerations come into play,” his brother insists. “We’ve got a big once-in-a-generation decision and he feels strongly on that side of the argument.”.
It is nothing new for the Johnsons to be battling each other. With “lots of siblings and limited parental time” they had to survive on their wits and were fiercely competitive as children, which may be why they have all become so successful. “I think we have become less competitive over time,” he says, although he admits that who is the better tennis player remains “keenly” fought over. “Boris has an advantage at the moment because he has a tennis court. He’s moved off the wooden racket and the funny thing is he’s an unbelievably fast runner.”
Some think that the European issue might not be the last time the Johnson brothers are up against one another. Could it be BoJo v JoJo for next Tory leader? “I don’t see that,” he replies. “David Cameron has won the first Conservative majority since 1992 and he’s serving a full term. These questions simply don’t arise.”
Joseph Edmund Johnson: Curriculum vitae
Born December 23, 197
Educated The European School in Brussels; Eton; Balliol College, Oxford.
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Career Investment banker at Deutsche Bank, then joined Financial Times in 1997. Paris correspondent and South Asia bureau chief, based in Delhi, before becoming associate editor and head of the Lex column. Elected MP for Orpington in 2010; worked as head of the No 10 policy unit between 2013 and 2015. Appointed minister for universities and science after the election last year.
Family Married to Amelia Gentleman, a journalist, with two children.
Quick fire
James Bond or George Smiley? George Smiley
Thatcher or Disraeli? Thatcher
The Revenant or Spotlight? I’m keen to see both
Eurostar or Virgin Atlantic? Both
Exmoor or Hampstead Heath? Exmoor
FT or GQ? FT
Blood or water? Both are essential
Top Gear or Newsnight? Definitely Newsnight
Charisma or compassion? Logic
Tennis or rugby? Tennis
Roundhead or Cavalier? Roundhead
George or Boris? If that’s the choice we are lucky
Prizes for all or winner takes all? Competition
Lasagne or roast beef? Lasagne, the continental option
Prodigal son or Cane and Abel? Prodigal son is more encouraging