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The man in charge of Brexit is a workshy liar who can't use a phone or make a ham sandwich, according to his ex-chief of staff

James Chapman David Cameron
James Chapman David Cameron

Twitter / James Chapman

LONDON — David Davis, the UK Brexit Secretary, has been subjected to a string of vicious personal attacks by his former chief of staff, who has claimed that he is so incompetent he can neither work a mobile phone nor make a ham sandwich.

James Chapman, who used to be Davis' right-hand man in the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), attacked the work ethic and credibility of his former boss in a series of tweets on Tuesday morning.

It came as Davis toured TV studios to promote the government's Brexit strategy, which was fleshed out today with new documentation on the customs union.

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Chapman said that Davis only works three days a week, is rude to European heads of state and is so incompetent that those around him are guilty of facilitating misconduct in public office.

Here are the tweets in question.

He said Davis only works three days a week:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/897345091651719171
Wish I could say the same for DD. He's been working 3 day week since day one #byebyeconkip #thedemocrats https://t.co/nga2K6POxO

That he can't make a sandwich:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/897426270543372289
Fully enjoying @jameschappers tigerblood meltdown. On David Davis: pic.twitter.com/7D2GaYxlff

That he's lying to the public and never reads his "red box" briefing papers:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/897378339098431488
This is a lie. They all fall away as DD would know if he ever bothered to read his box #misconduct #thedemocrats #wemarchon https://t.co/TX5RF5rJck

That he can't work out how to save a phone number by himself so makes his staff do it:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/897368338195677184
And he ordered appalled civil servants to programme it into his official phone. They refused #thedemocrats #wemarchon https://t.co/zxVzB5pitg

;...and that he sometimes phones up the EU's chief negotiator by mistake:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/897345646826573825
Someone should ask DD about time he called @michelbarnier by mistake thinking he was talking to a far-right friend #thedemocrats #wemarchon

That he takes six sugars in his tea, and makes somebody else stir it:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/897381982635741184
Six actually - and it has to be stirred for him https://t.co/G2IiGKcxxE

That he insulted the Prime Minister of Slovakia:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/897353398986711040
Someone should ask DD about time he told horrified Slovakian PM "if you think we are going to pay so you can sell us your cars, forget it"

Chapman has emerged in the past week as a stridently pro-Remain voice on Twitter, posting a string of messages suggesting a new pro-EU political party while on holiday with his wife in Greece.

It is a stark reversal from his previous career, which saw him spend around 13 years as a journalist for the fiercely eurosceptic Daily Mail newspaper, where he was political editor.

While in the job, he advanced their editorial line with articles under headlines like "Liars, turncoats and cowards!", which attacked supporters of Jean-Claude Juncker, now president of the European Commission, whom he called a "euro-fanatic."

James Chapman liars turncoats and cowards
James Chapman liars turncoats and cowards

Daily Mail

Others include "YES, PRIME MINISTER!", celebrating David Cameron's decision to call the referendum, "Le stitch-up", which rankled at increased UK payments to the EU, and an attack on EU free movement rules headlined "THERE ARE TOO MANY MIGRANTS."

James Chapman too many migrants
James Chapman too many migrants

Daily Mail/Business Insider

He left journalism for 2015 to work for then-Chancellor George Osborne and subsequently for Davis at DExEU.

When asked about the tweets in an interview with Sky News, Davis said: "James was a Remainer from the beginning, but he was a very good Chief of Staff. I am not going to criticise or argue with him [on air]."

DExEU declined to comment on Chapman's claims.

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See Also:

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