A QUESTION Time audience member was today cheered as he praised Boris Johnson for “knocking it out of the park” with a new Brexit deal.
Speaking on the BBC’s flagship show from Leicester last night, he championed the PM for reaching an eleventh-hour deal with the EU.
An audience member was cheered as he championed the Prime Minister’s new deal
The man’s comments were retweeted widely from the Question Time audience
The man said: “I’d just like to say something that I thought would never leave my mouth; I think Boris Johnson’s done a brilliant job with going over there.
“Everyone said ‘he won’t do that, he can’t do that’, but he’s actually proven everybody wrong and, from my perspective, it seems to me that he’s knocking things out of the park and people just can’t stand it.
“That’s really got people like myself more interested, like, oh, actually, this guy wants to do it for the people. He’s really pushing forward.”
The clip, posted on the Question Time Twitter account, was retweeted more than 5,000 times – but prompted a mix of responses.
Mark Hussell praised him, tweeting: “Absolutely correct. There are massive amounts of bitterness and jealousy involved.”
What's in the new deal?
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the new deal “rests on four main elements” –
- Northern Ireland will remain aligned to a limited set of EU rules, notably related to goods.
- Northern Ireland will remain in the UK’s customs territory, but will “remain an entry point” into the EU’s single market.
- There is an agreement to maintain the integrity of the single market and satisfy the UK’s legitimate wishes over VAT.
- Northern Ireland representatives will be able to decide whether to continue applying union rules in Northern Ireland or not every four years.
But many were angry that the BBC had edited out part of the man’s comments, in which he said he was tired of Brexit revolving around arrangements in Northern Ireland.
His suggestion that maybe the solution was to have “an island of Ireland” led to a barrage of complaints including from viewer Shaun, who tweeted: “This guy knows nothing of the history, or the politics of NI & Ireland in general.”
The debate comes at a critical time for Brexit, with MPs set to talk out the deal in tomorrow’s “Super Saturday”.
Johnson has launched a 24-hour charm offensives to sell his “great new” deal in a bid to deliver Brexit by October 31.
His new pitch removes the risk of being stuck in the customs union against its will, and gives Northern Ireland a veto on customs arrangements designed to avoid a hard border in Ireland.
But the PM faces a frantic race against time ahead of Saturdays showdown in the Commons, after the DUP vowed to vote down his agreement and begged Tory MPs to stand with them.
He needs a handful of ex-Tory MPs, hardline Tories and Labour Leavers to back him in order to seal Brexit’s fate.
Can he get the numbers?
HARDLINE Tory Brexiteers will leave Boris Johnson sweating until Saturday morning before deciding whether to vote for his deal.
The Government believes it has won over most of the 28 Spartans from the hardline European Research Group who rejected Theresa Mays deal three times.
It is thought five could still vote against. The PM has left open the option of removing the whip from them.
Some of the hardliners gave his deal a cautious backing.
Peter Bone said: This is vastly better than Theresa Mays deal. Andrew Bridgen added: It looks like Brexit, it smells like Brexit thats Brexit for me.
ERG deputy leader Mark Francois confirmed the group would make its final decision on Saturday morning.
Mr Johnson may also restore the whip to the 21 MPs he sacked for backing the Brexit-delaying Benn Act.
One of them, Sir Nicholas Soames, said: I think you can assume that the 21 will by and large vote for the deal.
Sacked rebel Rory Stewart admitted he got it wrong when he said the PM would fail to get a deal.
