Bernard Jenkin
(Picture: BBC)A Brexiteer accidentally said the government has tried to make the Brexit deal “worse” since it was passed and people are describing it as a “Freudian slip”.
Speaking on BBC Newsnight about the deal and whether it has contributed to recent supply-chain and labour shortage issues,Bernard Jenkin - who supported Brexit - said he wasn’t an initial fan of the move but voted for it because he saw no alternative at the time.
ICYMI: "I was thinking 'it's not a great deal but we could live with it'."
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) October 12, 2021
Conservative MP @bernardjenkin says he voted for the PM's Brexit deal because there was no alternative and the EU took "some advantage" of the UK's political crisis during negotiations#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/uCDK4ixWOe
But he expressed himself in a rather cack-handed way and put his foot in it when he then tried to defend the policy and claim that that government has done its best with the hand it has been dealt.
“It’s not a great deal. I thought we could live with it,” he said.
He then added that, since it was passed, in December 2020, “we’ve tried to make it worse, WORK,” he said.
Oops.
Inevitably, reacting to his slip, people thought it was pretty awkward:
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Are the rats starting to distance themselves from the carnage? Interesting Freudian slip? https://t.co/b7n2PmtFeS
— Iain Ogilvie 🇬🇧🇪🇺 #FBPE #rejoin 💙 (@TheAeronut) October 12, 2021
“We tried to make it worse” feels like an apt Freudian slip. https://t.co/lLjerTC1kv
— Line Langebek 🌍 (@LenaLongstream) October 12, 2021
Listen to what this prat actually says at 1 min 13 secs. Freudian slip or what?!
— Ted Smith #FBPE #FBPPR #FBPA #RejoinEU 3.5% 🇪🇺 (@TedUrchin) October 12, 2021
Or are my ears deceiving me? https://t.co/fcsGAICOmz
Listen to him! Towards the end he says "we tried to make it worse". Through Freudian slips, the Truth will out! Love to see it lol https://t.co/zCdEoPDosK
— Susan Elvidge (@SusanElvidge) October 11, 2021
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the interview, Jenkin claimed the Brexit deal was signed with the government was in a “constitutional crisis” and that the EU had taken advantage of this – even though Tories actually had an 80-seat majority at the time.
Irish senator Lisa Chambers then criticised Jenkin and said this was pretty nonsensical.
Overall, not Jenkin’s best performance, then. Though not quite as awkward as the time he said the Royal Family are “the least privileged people in our society”...
