A prominent
Brexit campaigner and leading member of Britain's government has scolded a BBC
presenter for showing a lack of patriotism when asked why the country
was in
such political turmoil.
Interviewed
on the BBC Newsnight program a year after Britain voted to leave the European
Union, Andrea Leadsom was asked why the country lacked a coherent Brexit
strategy and a stable government.
"You've
got a negotiating position which is completely unclear ... we've got a
political system which is unstable, many believe our economy is unfair, living
standards are falling, what can you point to now and say that's going
well?" presenter Emily Maitlis had asked.
Leadsom, the
leader of the House of Commons, said the country needed to pull together.
"It
would be helpful if broadcasters were willing to be a bit patriotic. The
country took a decision, this government is determined to deliver on that
decision."
Britain
launched its negotiations to leave the EU this week, led by Prime Minister
Theresa May who has been stripped of her authority by a failure to win a
majority in a June 8 election she did not need to call.
More than
two weeks after the vote, May's Conservatives have still not managed to secure
a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party, a small Northern Irish group whose
lawmakers will be needed to get legislation passed through parliament.
Tim Farron,
the outgoing leader of the small pro-EU Liberal Democrats party, said Leadsom
should apologize for her "sinister" comments. "This isn't a
George Orwell book," he said.
Leadsom
sparked uproar in the weeks after the Brexit vote when, running to be leader of
the Conservative party, she said the fact she was a mother meant she had a
greater stake in the future than her childless rival May.
Leadsom
later apologized and withdrew from the race, leaving May to be appointed prime
minister.
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