Labour’s Emily Thornberry mocked for Brexit scaremongering on Question Time
LABOUR’s Emily Thornberry has been hilariously mocked for scaremongering over Brexit after claiming UK planes would be unable to fly in a “no deal” scenario during a BBC Question Time rant.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary claimed that if the UK did not make a trade deal with the EU by March 2019 that commercial flights across the country would grind to a halt.
However, columnist Rod Liddle was quick to slap the Corbyn ally down for her doomsday scenario if Brexit negotiations fell apart.
The Labour politician said: “I think that no deal means that we crash out of the EU.”
She went on to try and list what she believed would happen in the event of “no deal” with the EU before being interrupted.
The MP for Islington South and Finsbury said: “We have no ongoing relationship with our closest allies with whom we have traded the large proportion of our trade, the planes will not be able to fly.”
Mr Liddle then interjected, with a hilarious take down of the Labour frontbencher’s argument.
Mocking Mrs Thornberry’s doomsday scenario he said: “And Bees will attack us!”
Audience members and others on the panel, including Remoaner Tim Farron, all laughed at Mr Liddle’s joke for pointing out the absurdity of the Shadow Foreign Secretary’s argument.
Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi also intervened, accusing Ms Thornberry of being dishonest, shouting “that’s not true Emily”.
Trying to clarify her point Mrs Thornberry added: “European regulation of aircraft is one we are signed up to and if we leave the European Union with no deal at all we’re not in that deal anymore.
“It is a serious matter.”
However, the chief executive of British Airways, Willie Walsh, has previously rejected claims that flights between the UK and EU would be grounded if there was no trade agreement with the EU.
Giving evidence to the House of Commons Transport Committee in October he said there would be "technical ways of addressing any scenario" after Brexit.
He said: “The prospect of there being no flying between the UK and Europe, I don’t agree with at all.
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“This would bring all of Europe to a standstill.”
Despite the public giving their verdict that they want to leave the EU more than a year ago, Removers have continued to scaremonger by painting a negative outlook for Britain.
The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, warned against a hard Brexit last month, claiming it will cause a further fall in the value of the pound, a blow to business investment and shut off trade routes putting pressure on the UK economy.
He said a transitional deal would get his vote, as it would give businesses and households time to adjust to Brexit.
Speaking at the European Central Bank’s communications conference in Frankfurt, Mark Carney said of Britain’s economy after it leaves the EU: “On the moment of Brexit, it will very much depend on what the final arrangement is with the EU 27 and what the transition path is from here to there.”
Prominent Leave campaigner Jacob Rees-Mogg has also criticised the Government’s Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) for their economic forecast after Brexit.
The Tory MP said the OBR were inherently pessimistic because the data it was using was based on “false assumptions” provided by the Treasury.
He said: "I confidently believe that over the medium term the UK's fiscal prospects are much better than those that will be revealed to you soon in the OBR’s short-term projections.
"It does its work worthily and reputably, but on the basis of false assumptions given to it by the Treasury."