In what may go down as one of the most embarrassing politics gaffes to ever happen on live TV, Liam Fox has denied sending a controversial tweet whilst sitting in front of a giant picture of it.
Appearing on Sophy Ridge On Sunday, the Tory MP interrupted the host as she read out the comment allegedly (but definitely) posted in March of last year.
He said: “Just for clarification, I didn’t send out a tweet.”
Ridge then gestured towards the large screen behind them both that clearly displayed the tweet.
He did not look and continued: “Number two, it was taken from a speech I gave a year and a half ago and it was tweeted out by I think The Guardian and it was an incomplete reference in any case.
“What I said was Britain has…because…Britain has always felt less emotionally attached to the European Union because in our history we had never felt the need to bury the 20th Century in a pan-European project.”
Here, just to be absolutely certain, is that very tweet...
Ridge, trying hard to contain her laughter, gracefully passed over the faux pas and continued with a different topic.
When originally sent last year, Fox was criticised for appearing to bury the negative aspects of British colonialism.
The full quote from his speech read: “I’m a Eurosceptic, because I believe that this nation state should be able to govern itself and control its own borders without interference from authorities outside our borders.
“The United Kingdom, is one of the few countries in the European Union that does not need to bury its 20th century history in a pan-European project.”
The topic of appearing to ignore Britain’s colonialist history reared its head last month during an episode of Question Time.
Here’s reminder and a quick history refresher.