A Leave-supporting peer has blamed the media for making the public “more frightened than they need to be” about a no-deal Brexit.
Former cabinet minister and Labour MP Kate Hoey has accused the media of hyping up fears about food shortages and price increases caused by Britain leaving EU trade talks without a deal.
Speaking with talkRADIO, Hoey said: “Most people who voted leave, they didn’t think about things like tariffs and deals and arrangements about this and that.
“They were voting, and certainly I was voting for a very straightforward principle of our country being able to make its own rules and laws.”
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She went on: “Of course, that does mean there’s going to be changes, but I do find the terribly negative reporting by some media of what no trading agreement would mean, is making people even more frightened than they need to be because clearly we’re not going to stop selling things, and people are not going to stop bringing things in.
“There’s this idea that if you don’t have a trade deal that you can’t trade. Of course, that’s not going to happen.”
She then suggested supermarkets absorb the extra costs on goods caused by EU tariffs.
She reflected: “We all knew there would be difficulties in the short-tern but clearly I’m looking at the long-term for the country.”
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Hoey’s comment comes after Boris Johnson and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned of “very large gaps” remaining on important trade issues.
On Friday, both camps said a no-deal was the most likely outcome of trade talks which end this Sunday.
Responding to a clip of Hoey’s interview on Twitter, @therichgoodwin posted: “So should we just sweep the impending sh*t storm under the carpet? Perhaps talkRADIO could go back to ranting about cycle lanes instead to deflect.”
One user hinted at Brexit causing “miles of queuing HGV, the lorry parks, the price hikes, the shortages”.
Another wrote: “Kate is correct. The left wing media remoaners are having a hissy fit. Boris is playing a blinder. The EU haven’t got it even at this late stage. We import far more than we export to this bunch of unelected gangsters. We will survive, it may be bumpy, but it will get sorted.”
This prompted one user to reply: “In case you hadn’t noticed is most of the media, The Sun, the Telegraph, the Mail, the Express, the Daily Star etc., are owned by right-wing press barons.”
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