Boris Johnson back Leave in the Brexit referendum (Image: GETTY)
Mr Carney would, Mr Ahmed suggested, be aware that the Remain camp would grab all his negative comments about Brexit and trumpet them as a victory .
Meanwhile he knew Leavers would attack him for being deliberately partisan in his approach to the value or otherwise of the EU to the British economy .
After a trade deal was secured by Mr Johnson and his counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen - the European Commission s President, the Prime Minister did confess the pact had failed to live up to his ambition for the finance sector.