IT’S BEEN AN eventful 24 hours in the Brexit negotiations – with an agreement announced this morning that will guarantee no hard border in Northern Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.
A notable trend over the past couple of weeks has been high-profile politicians getting some basic details wrong when talking about the issue – like MP Bernard Jenkin’s interview on Sky News and the time Iain Duncan Smith suggested that Ireland are playing hardball on Brexit because we have a presidential election coming up.
And last night Michael Portillo – former Conservative Minister and now BBC pundit – potentially added his name to that list with a comment on Irish-British relations down the years that’s wound up so many people here
It's all down to attitude. Here's Michael Portillo unbelievably blaming the Irish for creating the border problem #Newsnight pic.twitter.com/PKoGfONjk1
— youngsters today (@youngstersnow) December 8, 2017
If you can’t see the video, click here.
Speaking on the late-night political show This Week, Portillo said:
In a historical context, that will be minimal. Ireland has been so disruptive to the British and… and… Britain has been so disruptive to the Irish. I mean you do have to put it in context – our policy has often been determined, thwarted, and just messed up by our relations with Ireland.
The comment was picked up on by those watching – and it didn’t seem like a fair comparison at all
He said that Britain had also been disruptive here – but Irish people don’t think there’s any equivalence between the two levels of interference. And no mention of the obvious reason why there has been “disruption” between the two seemed to be given.
Like, “we didn’t start this sh*t” was the prevailing response – along with sarcasm
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The words “disruptive” and “Portillo” started trending in Dublin
Making waves.
There was something about the comment that made it seem like it was a 50/50 split
*thinking face*
Portillo has actually done a documentary on the Easter Rising, so is at least aware of some of the facts
Imagine the panel’s faces if he brought these lines out on Cutting Edge
