A referendum on Brexit “should not have been held” outside of an election because the subsequent Government had no notion of how to push it through, David Dimbleby has said.
The broadcaster suggested that six years on from exiting the European Union, the UK “still does not know where it is going to be” as disagreements over the Northern Ireland Protocol continue to problematize a smooth transition to independence.
Mr Dimbleby added that he believed politicians have become “less willing to share” their genuine thoughts in light of the “total chaos” of the Brexit vote and the world of politics has become a world of “slogans” rather than the truth.
It comes as the Irish Government called for more “meat on the bone” to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol issues. Mr Dimbleby said: “I think politicians are less willing to explain what they are on about and what their real thoughts are.
“They are much more inclined now to go for political slogans.
“It was not a proper subject for a referendum.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attended the British-Irish Council summit in Blackpool to discuss issues over the protocol.
He is the first PM to attend since Gordon Brown in 2007. Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin described Mr Sunak’s decision to attend the summit as “significant”, adding that his attendance had been “well received”.
But, he said the mood music over the negotiations needed to be harnessed to translate into a resolution to the impasse, though the discussion looked positive. The Fianna Fail leader added that he and Mr Sunak agreed there is a
“window of opportunity” to address the protocol concerns.
“The mood music is improving, we now need to translate that into a resolution, a negotiated resolution between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
“There is now a very good window of opportunity here to get this issue resolved.”
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said more than a change of mood music is needed to restore power-sharing as she called for an intensification of the UK-EU talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The above summary was derived from the story linked below
Source: Dimbleby says Brexit vote ‘should not have been held’ in light of protocol difficulties
