LIVE: The Brexit Debate | Michael Gove & Claire Fox vs Dominic Grieve & Matthew Parris
6/18/202628 min
Watch The Brexit Debate in full at https://www.spectator.com/brexit
Ten years on from the Brexit referendum, Britain is far from taking flight. Was Brexit a mistake – or are its promised freedoms simply yet to be realised? With the government unwilling to act boldly, smoothing Brexit’s edges rather than seizing its opportunities, are we quietly edging back into Europe’s embrace?
This is a section of our special live event marking ten years since the referendum. Prominent critics of Brexit – barrister and former Conservative MP Dominic Grieve KC, and Spectator columnist Matthew Parris – will propose the motion ‘This house believes Brexit was a mistake’, with leading advocates, former Brexit Party MEP Baroness Claire Fox and Spectator Editor Michael Gove, opposing. The Spectator’s assistant editor Isabel Hardman will chair.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
This podcast was originally recorded as a live event. You'll be hearing Dominic Grieve, Matthew Parris, Claire Fox, and Michael Gove set out their cases for and against Brexit. But if you want to watch the full thing, including a Q&A and a section where they spar over their opening statements, then as a subscriber you can do so. Head over to spectator.com/brexit. I hope you enjoy.
Isabel Hardman0:20
[upbeat music] Thank you. [audience applauding] Thank you, and welcome to the Emmanuel Centre for tonight's debate. Well, it's 10 years next week since the UK voted to leave the EU. We've had 100 years' worth of political turmoil since, more prime ministers than you can fit on this stage, and maybe another joining in the next few weeks. [audience laughing] So today, was all that worth it? With our politicians still trying to contain the Boris wave of post-Brexit immigration and an economy so slow that an improvement of 0.1% is considered good news, we'll be asking tonight, was Brexit a mistake? Now, each of tonight's participants played a key role in the events leading up to and following that decision on the 23rd of June 10 years ago. First to argue that Brexit was indeed a mistake, please welcome Dominic Grieve and Matthew Parris.
Unknown speaker1:28
[audience applauding]