The owner of Britain’s first Reform pub has said he regrets Brexit and would ‘probably have voted Remain’ if he’d know everything about leaving the EU.
The Talbot in Blackpool made headlines earlier this year when it rebranded itself as the country’s first pub devoted to Nigel Farage’s party.
Painted in ‘Reform Blue’ and plastered with the logo of the party, the social club is owned by Nick Lowe. But although he is a staunch supporter of the right-wing, it seems Lowe has some regrets about voting for Brexit.
Speaking the News Agents podcast, Lowe spoke about how he is in favour of people moving to the UK legally with a visa, pointing out how he has to do the same to travel to Spain.
When Lewis Goodall pointed out that if it wasn’t for Brexit he would have been able to move there, Lowe said: “Believe it or not, they didn’t tell the truth about that. If they’d explained everything about Brexit, like ‘oh you won’t be able to travel as many times as you want to Spain’ [and] freedom of movement, I probably would have voted not to leave it [the EU].”
However, just when you thought the scales might be falling from the publican’s eyes, he stopped short of blaming Farage for the Brexit disaster.
When Goodall said that Brexit was Farage’s “big idea,” Lowe responded: “Everyone changes their mind. The people voted and they voted for Brexit.”
He added: “It’s too late now isn’t it? I agree with the rest of the population that voted for Brexit so I’ve got to carry on with it haven’t I?”
When it was suggested to him that some people would blame Farage, Lowe replied: “It wasn’t just Farage was it? There was a certain Conservative leader that was all for it as well.”
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