James O'Brien outlines how govt repeatedly use Brexit to get out of trouble
31 January 2022, 12:43 | Updated: 31 January 2022, 13:06
James O'Brien: Brexit benefits being touted to take heat off partygate
As Boris Johnson plans to launch a 'Brexit Freedoms Bill' with Sue Gray's report imminent, James O'Brien lists the times government used Brexit to avoid scrutiny.
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Government have released plans to unleash a "Brexit Freedoms Bill" aimed at cutting EU red tape two years after the UK left the bloc.
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The move comes as Sue Gray sends a copy of her partygate report to Number 10, piling pressure on Boris Johnson and those close to the PM.
James O'Brien told LBC listeners that something stinks about the decision to release a Brexit benefit line to the media on the eve of such a monumental event in Mr Johnson's premiership.
He argued that "emotional division" in the UK is being "very deliberately stoked" in attempt to distract from the government scandal, and listed a number of cases where Brexit has been used in the past to create binary debates when the government was under pressure.
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James constructed a leaderboard of times the government have done "utterly, utterly unthinkable" things and used Brexit to justify it.
He began by telling listeners that firmly in his gold medal position is when Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg "misled" the Queen to prorogue parliament.
"By any objective measure that was a national disgrace", he declared.
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In silver position was Brandon Lewis' declaration that the UK would break international law in a "specific and limited way", which was put down to protecting the sovereignty of Britain.
Finally he recalled Boris Johnson's agreement to have a border in the Irish sea "after he swore blind that it wouldn't happen." He pointed out that the PM "got away with that" for using Brexit as the reason.
Each incidence was "individually bigger than Profumo", James claimed, arguing that they weren't given serious attention due to the use of Brexit as the excuse.
