Piers Morgan says Brexit has been a ‘disaster’, calls for referendum to rejoin EU

TV host Piers Morgan says it’s “time to admit Brexit has been a disaster” and called for a new referendum for the UK to rejoin the European Union.

Controversial TV host Piers Morgan says it’s “time to admit Brexit has been a disaster” and that the UK must hold a new referendum on rejoining the European Union.

Morgan, host of Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV and Flash, was reacting to a YouGov poll from earlier this month which found declining support for the historic 2016 vote.

Asked whether, in hindsight, Britain was right or wrong to vote to leave the EU, 56 per cent now say it was the wrong decision while just 32 per cent say it was right.

It’s time to admit that Brexit has been a disaster, exacerbated by pandemic/war, and have another referendum which as this poll indicates, would surely result in a substantial majority now voting for us to return to the EU. pic.twitter.com/Wz14DmagiB

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 19, 2022

Save for a brief period in 2016 and 2017, most respondents in the YouGov poll have said it was the wrong decision for the past four years, but the trend has accelerated since mid-2021.

“It’s time to admit that Brexit has been a disaster, exacerbated by pandemic/war, and have another referendum which as this poll indicates, would surely result in a substantial majority now voting for us to return to the EU,” Morgan wrote on Twitter.

The former Good Morning Britain host has previously been vocal about voting “remain” in 2016, but wanted to see the outcome honoured out of respect for “democracy”.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Picture: Andy Bailey/UK parliament/AFP

In 2019, he revealed he had voted for Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party based on Brexit.

“Not from any great love of either, but because, as I have made clear on Good Morning Britain for the last three years, I was incensed by the failure to honour the result of the referendum,” he told LBC.

“I voted to remain and I would vote to remain again. I’m not a great fan of Brexit. However, I’m a much bigger fan of democracy. And to me, Boris Johnson was the only major party candidate who was offering to honour democracy and to respect the fact that 17.4 million people had voted to leave the European Union.”

It comes as hard-line conservative Brexit supporters slam the Tory government led by new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Nigel Farage smiles as the UK officially leaves the EU in 2020. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP

Nigel Farage, former Brexit Party leader and now host on GB News, accused Mr Sunak of a “sellout of Brexit” after The Sunday Times reported the government was considering a “Swiss-style relationship” with the EU that would “remove the vast majority of trade barriers with the bloc”.

“Switzerland has access to the European single market through a series of bilateral agreements,” The Times report read.

“However, the model also involves more liberal EU migration, and payments to the EU budget, with the bloc in recent years also pushing for the European Court of Justice to have greater oversight in the relationship. The Swiss have frequently debated restricting free movement from the bloc, but in the most recent referendum opted to keep it.”

Lord David Frost, Mr Johnson’s former chief Brexit negotiator, told The Times any approach requiring the UK to align with EU rules in exchange for trade benefits, “whether as part of a Swiss-style approach or any other, would be quite unacceptable”.

“Boris Johnson and I fought very hard to avoid any such requirements in 2020 and ensure the UK could set its own laws, and we should not contemplate giving this away in future,” he said.

Brexit has been a ‘disaster’, Piers Morgan says. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Reacting on Twitter, Mr Farage wrote: “Rishi Sunak is a Goldman Sachs globalist, so this sellout of Brexit is not surprising. The Tories must be crushed.”

He added: “This level of betrayal will never be forgiven. The Tories must be crushed.”

Speculation is growing that Mr Farage could form a new political party to tap into rising discontent over issues ranging from soaring inflation to illegal immigration.

A poll conducted by The Telegraph earlier this month found more than one-quarter of British voters would consider voting for a party led by Mr Farage.

Mr Farage stepped down as leader of the Brexit Party, now called Reform UK, in March 2021.

Speaking to the newspaper, Mr Farage refused to rule out the possibility of creating a new party and said he had been “overwhelmed” by requests from voters.

Come to the UK illegally, get escorted by the French Navy and then smoke cannabis in a hotel paid for by the British taxpayer. It is beyond a joke. pic.twitter.com/qdqshvaGbd

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 11, 2022

“I’ve been overwhelmed in the last month, every day on email, even going to the shops, by people saying, ‘You have got to do something, someone’s got to speak up for us, they don’t represent us anymore,’” he said.

But he said he had concerns due to the UK’s first-past-the-post electoral system.

“I managed to win two national elections under proportional representation, but the last time I tried an all-out assault at a general election, I won four million votes and one seat,” he said.

“So I’m a little soured by that experience. I won’t rule it out of hand, but there’s a lot to think about, given the electoral system.”