A Rosie Holt parody of Andrea Leadsom’s Brexit anniversary interview with Kay Burley has gone viral on social media.
The Conservative health minister and prominent Leave supporter said friction in the trading relationship with the European Union is the “price” the UK is paying to be a “sovereign state again” after Brexit.
She said businesses would have to “adapt” after the introduction on Wednesday of new post-Brexit checks on food, drink and some agricultural imports, including fresh flowers.
The long-delayed new rules are part of the UK Government’s introduction of a series of checks this year.
Fears have been expressed about the disruption the changes could cause to supply chains, with MPs also warning that the new border regime could present “serious biosecurity risks” to the UK.
Dame Andrea, a former business secretary, said traders were made aware that Brexit would mean leaving the European single market, resulting in “additional checks at the border”.
“There was no surprise about that,” she told Sky News on Wednesday — the fourth anniversary of the UK withdrawing from the EU.
Told about a florist who has said they will struggle to import flowers from the Netherlands because of the additional checks, Dame Andrea appeared to suggest they should instead buy from the “many parts of the United Kingdom that are flower growers”.
Pressed on whether she was saying businesses should curtail trade with Europe as a result of the added red tape, the minister replied: “I’m not saying that at all.
“Leaving the single market was always going to have implications… I’m just saying that businesses need to adapt to meet the changing environment.”
The interview has since been parodied by the brilliant Rosie Holt, who had this to say about the car crash interview:
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