Dominic Cummings
(Picture: BBC/PA)Brexit could have been a mistake, Dominic Cummings has said.
Speaking in his wide ranging interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, the former Number 10 adviser who was behind the Vote Leave campaign said the question was still up for debate – though he then noted that he personally still agreed with the policy.
“Questions like ‘is Brexit a good idea’ – no-one on Earth knows what the answer to that is,” he said.
“I think anyone who says they’re sure about questions like that has got a screw loose, whether you’re on the remain side or our side.
“I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say Brexit was a mistake and that history will prove that – of course it’s reasonable for some people to think that.
“I honestly don’t know what sort of person you’d be if you didn’t have a view like that.”
Reacting to his comments, some people thought it was odd for Cummings to acknowledge that there are both sides to the debate, given he voraciously campaigned for Britain to leave the EU – something that might suggest he had some degree of certainty about the policy.
Look at what this man is admitting to for goodness sake. And the fact no one is marching on Westminster demanding that Johnson resigns says it all. The apathy is a result of a UK who just don’t care anymore. There is zero trust in party politics. I know I don’t care anymore. https://t.co/fpxAO2NUCp
— Ava Vidal ‘Trendsetter’ 🇩🇲🇧🇧 (@thetwerkinggirl) July 20, 2021
Partial recantations don’t work on great issues like Brexit which were contested at the time. It’s like Chamberlain saying he might have been wrong on appeasement - in which case he should have made way for Churchill. The Brexiters were definitely wrong & did enormous harm, IMO https://t.co/Rzv8g0ZQeY
— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) July 20, 2021
What?
— Bernie Randall FBPE (@BernieRandall8) July 20, 2021
'No ones know if Brexit is a good idea, and a mistake.'
Then, 'I think Brexit was a good thing'
No bloody wonder the uk is in the mess it is in https://t.co/VMeAfe6drI
Dominic Cummings says it is "perfectly reasonable to think Brexit is a mistake".
— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) July 20, 2021
Dominic Cummings was director of Vote Leave.
"The question: is Brexit a good idea? No-one on earth knows the answer to that", says the person who literally ran the campaign to leave the EU, Dominic Cummings.
— Sam Bright (@WritesBright) July 20, 2021
🤦♂️🤦♂️#CummingsInterview
Yet Cummings added that he agreed with Brexit, despite suggesting he could be proved wrong. He said: “Obviously I think that Brexit was a good thing. I think that the way in which the world has worked out since 2016 vindicates the arguments that Vote Leave made in all sorts of ways.
“I think it’s good that, that Brexit happened.”
Writing on Twitter like an A-level student who has just discovered postmodernism, he added that there is no concept of certitude in policy:
Reasonable ppl can disagree on complex questions like Brexit
— Dominic Cummings (@Dominic2306) July 20, 2021
Disagree? Ask yourself: how can I know I'm right, & if I'm smart enough to *know* I'm right on such a complex question, why isn't it trivial for me to become a trillionaire?
Thinking like Remain's pollster = disaster pic.twitter.com/xiFurCWFag
Cummings also said the Brexit campaign promise to give the NHS an extra £350 million per week if the UK left the European Union “drove everyone crazy” because it was “true”.
He said the figure, which was emblazoned on campaign buses, was used as a “trap” for the Remain side as it exposed the “true balance sheet” of EU membership.
Critics have argued the figure was misleading as it did not take into account the rebate the UK received from Brussels.
He also denied stirring up division in the country with “provocative” tactics to get Brexit through after Boris Johnson’s arrival in power, such as the prorogation of parliament which led to government defeat in the Supreme Court. He blamed those who didn’t accept the result of the referendum.
If you want to watch the whole interview, it is available on BBC iPlayer. Get your popcorn ready.
