Why 7.5 million people have watched the John Major Brexit interview
IIt is noteworthy that a former member of parliament, who was first elected to parliament 47 years ago, went viral on social media with 7.5 million views and counting.
My interview with former prime minister and senior statesman Sir John Major reached a record number of viewers. Independenta pioneer in digital journalism and the first daily newspaper to go digital just a decade ago.
Sir John took over social media with his common sense and calm authority as he spoke on the tenth anniversary of Brexit.
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As a passionate Remainer, he debunked any Brexit dividend myths. He confirmed the Bank of England’s financial calculations of the financial damage, revealing a £100bn annual shortfall in our finances thanks to Brexit.
His harsh assessment that any party that cannot find a leader among 400 MPs will have to find a local mayor shows that there are some weaknesses in the party’s structure and purpose.
It also exposed the moral turpitude of Nigel Farage accepting millions as a personal gift from a crypto billionaire and still claiming independence.
Watch The Independent editor-in-chief Geordie Greig’s full conversation with Sir John Major below:
“Our goal in the next five years should be to rejoin the single market,” he said. “But it will come at a cost. We will have to be absolutely honest with the British people. If we go back to the single market we say, ‘Here are the gains we are offering and here is the price we have to pay for it’.”
Making a harsh attack on the leaders of the Brexit campaign, including Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, for the economic damage of Brexit, Trump said: “Michael Gove said we would keep all the cards after we left. The only cards they had were P45s for people who lost their jobs.”
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He mocked the Brexiteers’ “Take Back Control” slogan and promise to “regain sovereignty” and accused them of making “impossible promises”.
Sir John said: “We know who the losers are. Every wallet, every purse and every balance sheet in the country. They are the losers. There is only one country in the world that is completely dominant, and that is North Korea.”
He claimed Brexiteers “know in their hearts” that Brexit “isn’t happening”.
Sir John said more than two-thirds of voters now viewed Brexit as a mistake, adding: “That’s why I think we’ll go back to Europe.”
But he acknowledged that negotiations would not be easy.
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