Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay Completely Messes Up Jean-Claude Juncker's Name

Ouch.
|

The new Brexit Secretary has marked the second stage of his first big EU renegotiation talks by completely messing up the name of the president of the European Commission.

Speaking to ITV News on Tuesday, Stephen Barclay was asked by a journalist what he had been doing in Brussels and Strasbourg.

Taking a deep breath, he said: “Well it’s to build on the engagement that the prime minister had last week with Jean-Paul Juncker and to...”

Yes, he said “Jean-Paul Juncker”.

For the record, it’s actually “Jean-CLAUDE Juncker”, who has been president of the European Commission since 2014, and who has been a permanent presence in the Brexit negotiations since the beginning of the whole saga. 

But maybe it’s too soon for Barclay to have read up on all that – he’s only been in the role since November... Ahem.