Tory MP Ben Bradley was left trying to defend his view that the people should not get a second say on Brexit – despite the politician having changed his own mind five times.
Bradley was introduced by Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy as the Conservative MP who ‘voted Remain, became a Brexiteer, then voted against the deal, then voted for the deal, and then said he would struggle to back the deal again, but now says he will back the deal.’
Asked why he gets to change his mind, the MP said that he hadn’t.
‘I haven’t changed my mind, I voted Remain in the referendum, what you’ve laid out there is a series of votes voting differently but trying to achieve the same outcome.’
A confused Guru-Murthy enquired: ‘So you voted against the deal and for the deal?’
To try and achieve the same option, the thing I have been trying to do since day one is to try and get us on the date that we promised. Back in January we had the time and political capital to be able to go back and seek further improvements. We got some improvements, not everything we would have hoped for, but now we don’t have the time and political capital, which means the deal is the same, but the circumstances surrounding it are very different.’
He added: ‘I am perfectly comfortable with my position which I feel has been consistent actually.’
To laughter from the host, he asked: ‘Really?
‘So are you now in favour of Brexit?’
Continuing to dig a hole for himself, Bradley said that he was indeed in favour of Brexit.
‘I voted Remain in the referendum as a better the devil you know scenario, and I’ve never been pro-European, but it was pretty clear to me that leaving was going to be tough. And that’s been proven absolutely correct. But during my time as Member of Parliament I have voted consistently to leave at the first possible opportunity.’
Guru-Murthy pointed out he voted against the deal, so that was not true.
But Bradley still could not see the irony and said that the ‘circumstances around them have changed.’
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The host said: ‘The point is that you get to change your mind, but you don’t want anyone else to get the chance to get change their mind.’
The MP, however, said that a second referendum would not be ‘any more straight forward, any more fact-based or any better from a campaign point of view than the first’.
He conceded with the host that the ‘same people who lied before would lie again.’
But he perservered that delivering on that flaw logic was what was now needed.
‘What we need to do is deliver on the first referendum, there’s no point asking the same question again if we haven’t delivered on the first one.’
The line of questioning was praised by viewers on social media.
Graham Lithgow said: ‘While to many this frankly ludicrous exchange might justifiably paint Ben Bradley as a bumbling halfwit, it also begs the uncomfortable question as to just how stupid this supposed representative of the people thinks we are?’
John Crowther tweeted: ‘Good grief, hypocrisy from Ben Bradley is astounding – another like May, Hunt, Fox, Leadsom, Gove, and Rees-Mogg who thinks it fine to change their mind as often as the wind blows – yet for ordinary people to even think this is considered an affront to democracy.’
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