UKIP founder and Lib Dem peer have explosive row over divisiveness of Brexit celebration

16 January 2020, 17:15

"This man wouldn't know democracy if it came up and bit him," said the UKIP founder in an explosive row with Lib Dem peer over the divisiveness of a Brexit celebration.

UKIP's founder Professor Alan Sked said he will be celebrating in Parliament Square and hopes bells will be pealing all over the country to celebrate the UK leaving the "failed and dilapidated EU."

Lib Dem peer Lord Newby said he does not object to anyone celebrating independence from the European Union however we should not exacerbate divisions by hosting a huge Brexit party and "rubbing [Remainers'] noses in it."

"By all means celebrate but don't do it in a way that makes people on the other side of the argument frustrated and angry," said Lord Newby.

Professor Sked called those words "a lot of hypocritical rubbish" coming from a member of the House of Lords, a party "which wanted to overthrow the majority in the country by revoking Article 50.

"If that wasn't rubbing peoples' noses into division I don't know what was. This man wouldn't know democracy if it came up and bit him.

The government have approved requests for the Brexit Celebration to be in Parliament Square. Picture: Leave Means Leave

Professor Sked continued, "The fact is that the Remain voters more or less collapsed and that people now really want to see this done... the people want to be a normal self-governing democracy again. The Lib Dems will be reduced to impotence which they are already."

LBC's Eddie Mair interjected to ask whether hosting a huge party up and down the country is the way to get Remainers on side to which Professor Sked Remainers can "live with it" for one night and accept it.

Lord Newby said, "Alan Sked is being a false analysis in terms of the number of seats in the House of Commons and the majority view in the country. Every opinion poll in the country...have shown the majority of people - over 50% - if there had been a referendum would vote to remain in the EU.

"It's complete nonsense to suggest there's an overwhelming majority to leave. There is a small majority.

"The truth is we don't have a democracy in Britain, we have a rotten system which has produced a perverse result and has given the impression there's a big popular groundswell in favour of leaving the EU when the opposite's the case."

He said that many people who voted for leave politicians in the general election did so because "they were scared of a Corbyn government" which "trumped their view about whether we should stay in the EU or not."