Politics

Graham Norton delivers hilarious Brexit rant at Irish literary festival

Graham Norton summarised the thoughts of many Brits in hilarious fashion in a talk given to the West Cork Literary Festival in Bantry.

The presenter-come-comedian said a revolution has occurred in the UK, but it didn’t come from the right and it didn’t come from the left, instead “it came from the stupid”.

He said people who voted for Brexit need to “look at their victory parade”, to watch who was “dancing the hardest and shouting the loudest”.

These people, he said more bluntly, had “hitched their wagon to a moron”, in a thinly veiled swipe at UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It’s not the first time Norton has spoken out about Brexit.

Last year he appeared on The Late Late Show couch with Ryan Tubridy and had some strong thoughts on the “pack of lies” that were told during the referendum.

He said: “I was astonished that people bought the pack of lies they were sold and I feel sorry for the people who voted for it because they were lied to.

“They were promised things that are never going to happen and they were told [about] the things that are now unfolding: ‘oh don’t worry, that won’t happen’.”

Norton also said that even though the economy makes the headlines, it’s the on the youth that is the “most depressing thing”.

“What is great about being young is you’ve so many options. Life – all the doors are open, every door is open.

“What is so sad about Brexit is that people over 60, because it was people over 60 passed that thing, closed so many doors on young people and shut down options.

“Shut down options about studying abroad, living abroad, working in places.

“It just seemed absolutely the wrong instinct.

“Don’t make the world smaller, don’t shut things down.

“I understand where the fear comes from but, actually, I think it is sad,” he said

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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