UK Edition
Brexiteers 'spat in the face' of Europeans, claims David Attenborough
Sir David Attenborough has suggested that Brexiteers “spat” in the face of Europeans and that the EU referendum was an “an abrogation of parliamentary democracy”.
The veteran broadcaster and naturalist also criticised Michael Gove’s claim in the run up to the referendum that people have “had enough of experts”. He said the comments were “of someone who doesn’t understand what they are saying”.
Sir David said: “I'm not an economist, and I certainly don’t understand the political and economic implications of Brexit, but philosophically I would rather people embrace one another than spat in one another's face.
“That’s when someone has told them something which they don’t like, and which they probably don’t understand.
“That is not evil necessarily. There’s quite a lot I don't understand and quite a lot of people I don’t like, in those terms anyway."
In an interview with Greenpeace’s Unearthed website, the 91-year-old broadcaster suggested that the public were not fully informed with the facts ahead of the referendum.
He said: “All I know is that compared with when the referendum came, I realised it is much more complicated than I thought.”
Alluding to some of the commitments made by Leave campaigners, Sir David described comments such as “we’re going to leave and we’re not going to pay any money” as a “gross oversimplification”.
Following the UK’s decision to leave the EU last year, Sir David expressed concerns for the environment and his hope that collaboration on conservation issues would continue.