Boris can lob brickbats from his FO position, but if he was Chancellor I doubt he'd be optimistic either. This is the same Boris who wrote two articles, one for why he was backing Leave, the other for why he was backing Remain, and delayed his decision to the last minute. The same Boris who led his mate the PM to think he was backing Remain. The same Boris who was stabbed in the face by Michael Gove.
It seems obvious that a key reason the Tories won a majority in 2015, after 5 years in coalition, was that they were promising a Brexit referendum. Hence by the time of the next election in 2017, even up against Corbyn, they failed to increase their majority - or even get one.
Hammond is the Chancellor and he is rightly bricking it. I think he more than most people on AB can appreciate the true disaster of what his party, first through the referendum, then through triggering Article 50 based on such a slim victory, then through this pathetic negotiation period, is inflicting on the country.
The result should be the Tories out of power for 20 years or more. It won't happen though because only two parties can realistically win power, and when Corbyn has been PM for 5 years after the current shambles has been voted out, the Tories will be back in again! With God knows who as leader. In the meantime the country will have tolerated 10 years of utter dross.