Well-known anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray had to be removed from a BBC debate on Brexit after shouting “Tories Out”. He heckled Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, before being escorted from the event. After being interrupted by the protester, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Steve, it’s very nice of you to come and join us.”
He added: “For those of you listening at home, Steve Bray stands outside the House of Commons every day shouting.
“I’ve said to him many times, he should stand for election if he wants to get his arguments across.
“He’s trying to disrupt us this evening. He is now being taken out so that we can carry on the discussion.”
The BBC Radio 4 debate, hosted by Michal Hussain, saw former Conservative cabinet minister Mr Rees-Mogg debate the issue of Brexit with former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell and CBI chief Tony Danker.
This comes as the UK celebrates its third anniversary of leaving the EU.
On January 31 three years ago, then-PM Boris Johnson led the country out of Brussels after decades of membership.
The UK entered an 11-month transition period until the end of 2020, during which time it remained bound to the EU’s rules.
The BBC debate saw Mr Rees-Mogg say the UK should have “confidence in ourselves”, as “we are an independent democratic nation once again”.
Speaking about the benefits of Brexit, he said: “Boris Johnson was able to lead the world in getting a coalition against Russia to help the Ukraine and that happened because we were not bound in by the obligation of sincere cooperation within the European Union.
“So we have done something to lead the west in a fundamentally important way that we could not have done had we been in the EU, we’ve saved £191bn and we’ve restored our democracy.
“I think that’s pretty good over three years.”
But Alistair Campbell accused Boris Johnson’s Government of “telling lies” during the Brexit campaign, claiming that Brexit caused “damage” to the UK.
He said: “We were told there was going to be a US trade deal. It’s nowhere in sight.
“We were lied to repeatedly by Boris Johnson, by Nigel Farage and others, and… I am not moving on from where we are and the damage this has done to our country and our body politic until there has been proper accountability for the lies that were told and the crimes that were committed in the campaign.”
