Krishnan Guru-Murthy has perfectly summarised parliament’s political conundrum with one of the most brutal introductions on record.
The Channel 4 presenter grilled Brexiteer MP Ben Bradley about his voting record after he said he would back Theresa May’s withdrawal deal.
He said: “The conservative MP Ben Bradley is in the House of Commons. He voted to remain, then became a Brexiteer, then voted against the deal, then voted for the deal, then said he’d struggled to back the deal again but now says he will back the deal.”
The presenter then went on to ask Bradley why he gets to change his mind, but others – in the form of a second referendum – don’t.
Bradley insisted he hasn’t changed his mind, but Guru-Murthy didn’t let up in his interrogation.
“So you voted against the deal, and for the deal?” he asked the MP.
“The thing that I’ve been trying to do since day one is get us out on the date that we promised,” Ben insisted.
“Are you now in favour of Brexit?” Guru-Murthy asked him directly.
“Yes. I am in favour of Brexit. I voted to remain in the referendum as a ‘better-the-devil-you-know’ scenario, I’ve never been pro-European. It was pretty clear to me that leaving would be tough.”
But bringing his point home, the presenter said: “You get to change your mind and you don’t want anyone else the chance to change their mind.”
Bradley argued that a second referendum wouldn’t be “more fact-based or more straightforward…it’s not reality.”
“Because the same people who lied before would lie again?” the presenter prompted.
“Quite possibly so,” the MP retorted.
