Sir Lenny calls on public to confront Brexit racism

SIR LENNY Henry has called on people to be braver and stand up to racism in the wake of Brexit.

The actor and presenter described how he witnessed “two big white-van men just effing and blinding, talking about sending people back to their country” on a train after the referendum.

The 58-year-old said he went into shock and “couldn’t breathe” after hearing their discussion. “I’ve not been called a racist name since I was at secondary modern school. I was literally in shock. I couldn’t breathe,” he said.

“What was interesting is that people in the train carriage didn’t say anything. I think we have to be a bit braver and call it out when we see it. But that means putting yourself at risk.”

Sir Lenny said it takes just one person to speak out against such behaviour in order for others to do so.

“We could do it as a gang,” he told the paper. “We’re not asking you to be Liam Neeson in Taken.”

Meanwhile, Brexit could reignite an age-old controversy over ownership of an isolated Atlantic islet off the Donegal coast.

Rockall is under 300 miles from Scotland and Ireland’s western extremities. The remnant of an extinct volcano was the subject of Irish rebel ballads and diplomatic tussles over the surrounding fisheries and oil-rich sea bed.

Its sovereignty was finally settled in Scotland’s favour in 2014 after being sparred over for decades. Some in Ireland fear the UK’s exit from the EU could cause Britain to “pull up the drawbridge” on international use of the area.

Jane Morrice, a former European Commission representative in Northern Ireland, warned: “It could also raise the age-old controversy over ownership of Rockall which was more or less resolved between the UK and Ireland in 2014.

“The fact that the rocky outcrop in the North Atlantic is claimed by the UK as part of Scotland could make it a small but serious point in future negotiations.”

What was interesting is that people didn’t say anything. Sir Lenny Henry on hearing offensive racist views being discussed on a railway journey.