Overjoyed caller pokes fun at Rishi Sunak for ‘admitting that it’s better to be in the EU’

28 February 2023, 16:36

By Grace Parsons

This caller tells Shelagh Fogarty that today marks "the first glimmer of light" since 2016 after Rishi Sunak revealed his "excitement" over the single market.

A jubilant caller, Jeff in Merthyr Tydfil, told Shelagh Fogarty he "couldn't stop laughing" at Downing Street's statement, which followed Rishi Sunak's speech.

Jeff went on to describe today as "the first glimmer of light" since 2016 after the Prime Minister seemed "excited" over the single market in his speech in Northern Ireland on Tuesday.

Appearing in Belfast, in an effort to sell his Brexit deal, Rishi Sunak said the amended EU deal put Northern Ireland in "the world's most exciting economic zone".

The No10 statement stressed that Rishi Sunak's remarks, stating the deal with the EU would create "the world's most exciting economic zone" should not be seen as the Prime Minister endorsing single-market benefits for the whole of the UK.

Jeff said: "They're totally disowning what Sunak has said, it's just thrown the whole thing. It's one of the best days since 2016, I haven't stopped laughing all day."

Talking of the Brexit referendum, Jeff said: "That vote was pure racism against Eastern Europeans, I am bitterly and humiliatingly ashamed of the way they voted in Merthyr Tydfil and this whole thing, since then, has been something of a disaster.

"Today is the first glimmer of light, of reality. The admission that it's better to be in the EU and the UK market than to be outside the EU and they can't get out of it now can they?!"

Describing Rishi Sunak's demeanour in Tuesday's speech, Jeff said: "He's excited and pleased, and he's saying something that [has made] the Brexiteers hold their heads in their hands."