"Brexit Was Never Meant To Happen, It Was A Game For Politicians"
21 November 2018, 15:15
An award-winning Irish journalist told James O'Brien why Brexit is such a shambles - it was only meant to be a game for the politicians, it was never meant to actually happen.
Fintan O'Toole explained that the Brexiteers were using the idea of leaving the European Union for political purposes, but never actually had a plan for winning.
James O'Brien asked him how he explains to Leave voters that they were conned.
His response: "Nobody wants to lose face. Nobody wants to admit that they might have made a mistake.
"The real secret of Brexit is that it was never meant to be serious, you know. It was a game these people were playing and it was a game they were playing entirely for their own political purposes, but also just because it was quite fun and it seemed to have no consequences.
"Boris once said it was like throwing stones over your neighbour's wall and listening to their glass houses shatter. You know, it's quite fun. Except that of course the glass houses are real people now.
"This has become jobs, it's become people's prospects, this is going to have catastrophic consequences for everybody except themselves of course.
"The sheer frontery of these people in their sense that they've got all the lifeboats.
"Rees-Mogg has just moved his two big hedge funds to Dublin to avoid Brexit. Nigel Lawson, who's chair of the Leave Campaign is off in France. Farage has German passports for his children.
"All of that is well known. I think what you need to say to people is, 'Look they're not making a sacrifice here, you are the sacrifice. Are you happy being sacrificed?'"
