‘Pig-ignorant’ grasp of Irish story makes Lord bow out
BRITISH film producer David Puttnam will quit the House of Lords because of the ‘pig-ignorance’ of legislators in the conversation on Ireland and Brexit.
Mr Puttnam, 80, said that Conservative ministers ‘malevolently twist, turn and posture in parading their prejudices’ during Brexit debates and lack ‘empathy and understanding’ when it comes to Ireland’s history.
The comments, which were made in a lecture honouring the late Labour and Liberal Democrat politician Shirley Williams last night, come as it was claimed that parts of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal were ‘always provisional’.
Puttnam said: ‘In discussions regarding the Republic of Ireland, and the complexity of finding sustainable post-Brexit solutions, I was staggered at the display of pigignorance towards the fundamentals of Irish history, let alone sensitivity towards the reality of cross-border relationships.
‘Had they really become so disconnected from the ghastly history of what we euphemistically call ‘the Troubles’?’
Puttnam, who moved to West Cork in 1998, said: ‘As someone who lives just across the Ilen River from the site of what is probably the largest and most recent mass famine-grave on these islands, I may well be ultrasensitive to these issues, but with a few notable exceptions, the level of empathy and understanding on display in both Houses was truly shocking.’
Since Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, he said: ‘I feel I’ve had my country of birth, and the values I believed it to represent, stolen from me.’
Puttnam, who was nominated to the Labour benches in the House of Lords by Tony Blair in 1997, said that he finds himself ‘embarrassed’ by what Britain ‘on an almost daily basis’ is becoming.
He also referenced media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who he called his ‘old enemy’, saying that what Britain is becoming is ‘Murdoch’s dream made real’.
Puttnam’s most notable film productions include Chariots Of Fire, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1981, Midnight Express, The Killing Fields, The Mission and Local Hero.
Meanwhile, British Brexit minister David Frost said the UK government always knew that elements of the deal might be ‘difficult to make work in practice’ and it was ‘not surprising’ that renegotiation of the agreement was needed already.
British prime minister Boris Johnson was accused of negotiating in ‘bad faith’ this week after ex-chief adviser Dominic Cummings said his government planned to ‘ditch’ bits of the deal it didn’t like after the 2019 election, adding: ‘Cheating foreigners is a core
part of the job.’
‘My country of birth has been stolen’