Two Callers Have Angry Clash Over Prorogation

31 August 2019, 13:35

Matt Frei sat by and listened as two callers with starkly opposing views on prorogation and the 2016 referendum result fiercely debated one another.

The LBC presenter said this conversation between a pair of callers "was an interesting insight into the divisions currently being played out in British politics and indeed on the streets of several British cities."

With mass demonstrations underway across the UK, including in front of Downing Street, tempers up and down the country are already beginning to fray.

Protests are being held in opposition to Boris Johnson's plans to prorogue Parliament, with those taking to the streets labelling the PM's proposal "a coup".

When Shaun in Woking called Matt Frei he said that he was infuriated by Lord Kerr's comments earlier in the hour, during which the peer used the word 'coup' to describe Mr Johnson's actions.

Shaun said that "Remoaners" had been trying to shut down Brexit for three years and that they were still trying to frustrate the process now, all the while questioning their belief in democracy.

But when Matt Frei introduced Mark from Great Offley, Hertfordshire the two callers did not see eye-to-eye.

Mark admitted that he would be taking part in a protest today in Hitchin in his county because he believed that the people, in a parliamentary democracy, were having their voices removed.

And when Mark referred to Boris Johnson as a "tinpot dictator", Shaun from Woking immediately took umbrage at his fellow caller's remarks.

Shaun said: "You don't care about democracy, if you did, the democracy was we voted to leave.

"The government would try and get a deal and if you need to exercise Parliament's will after the government's had their best shot, you do it after the negotiations have come to their final point.

Mark interrupted by arguing that courts had concluded that the referendum was advisory, after which Shaun tried to interject.

What followed was a short shouting match between the two callers, with Matt Frei stepping in as mediator as the two continued to pitch their ideas to one another, albeit without changing either's mind.