Author Will Self has damned the three senior Tory ministers leading the UK’s Brexit talks, arguing: “No wonder the Europeans are laughing at us.”
On BBC’s Question Time, the writer and academic called Brexit Secretary David Davis an “also-ran and a has-been”, referred to Trade Secretary Liam Fox’s embarrassing resignation from the Cabinet in 2011, and said that “we all know about” Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary.
His comments were described as “patronising clap trap” by broadcaster and fellow panelist, Julia Hartley-Brewer.
He said:
“If the people negotiating with leaving the European Union didn’t present such a sorry spectacle on the international stage, I might be a little bit more confident as well.
“For a start, who they are. Liam Fox, a man who tried to fiddle his expenses so his personal assistant could share his hotel room. David Davis ... well he has some intellectual calibre but an also-ran and a has-been. And Boris Johnson we all know about him, don’t we?
“It’s no wonder the Europeans are laughing at us when this trio comes into sight.”
Earlier, Self referenced an anecdote delivered by David Cameron to underline his frustration with Brexit, mocking the result for holding “some mystical truth”
“The former Prime Minister, in his cups, was heard to bemoan his fate and what had happened to him. Another guest at lunch got up, came over to him and said, ‘not even my golf club alters its rules by a simple majority vote’ and walked out.
“We don’t live in a direct democracy, but if all of those who’re so intent on talking about fighting to preserve the result of the referendum and its importance in our democracy were actually involving themselves in our democracy and reinvigorating it, then I wouldn’t be so worried about Brexit.”