Bridgen: ‘Everyone in England is entitled to an Irish passport’
Tory MP and Brexiteer Andrew Bridgen (Photograph; House of Commons) - Credit: Archant
Brexiteer MP Andrew Bridgen has taken his ignorance over Ireland to new heights - this time by claiming that everyone in England is entitled to an Irish passport.
The Tory MP for West Leicestershire appears to have learned nothing from his last car-crash interview over Ireland when he was left silenced by radio host Audrey Carville.
This time the European Research Group member made the brazen claim to Stephen Nolan on Radio 5 Live that 'as an Englishman, I understand I'm entitled to an Irish passport.'
On this basis, he believes that solving the Irish border will be no problem - despite repeatedly misunderstanding the issue in his radio appearances.
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Bridgen made the baffling claim on the same day that the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier tweeted 'despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open, including the backstop for IE/NI to avoid a hard border.'
Thomas Cole, head of policy at Open Britain, tweeted that 'there is no such agreement which exists.'
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He added: 'Under the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Irish citizens can choose between a UK and Irish passport but that does not apply to the UK as a whole.'
Last month Bridgen became stuck in an interview on RTE Radio 1 about the practicalities of the Brexiteers' alternative plan for the United Kingdom.
Twitter users claimed he was guilty of 'alarming ignorance' and that he was 'woefully out of his depth.'
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