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As you may have seen from last night's activities in the House of Commons, Brexit is going really well.
MPs voted to allow Theresa May to return to Brussels to try and renegotiate the controversial backstop, which was immediately rejected by the EU.
This small bit of news is unlikely to deter ardent Brexiteers who, despite all the facts and concerns about Brexit, still want us out of the EU.
One of the most public Brexiteers is Tim Martin, the chairman of the popular cheap pub and food chain Wetherspoons.
Despite the cost of their pints likely to go up after Brexit, Martin still wants the UK to leave the EU, and is even distributing a magazine in his pubs to highlight the benefits of leaving.
Never wishing to miss an opportunity to thoroughly drag a Brexiteer through a hedge backwards, LBC presenter James O'Brien grabbed a copy of the publication and read extracts from it on air.
"Oh, my days. Oh, my days. It's hard to know where to start," begins O'Brien before moving onto the editor's notes.
Let's start with a note from the editor. 'Having worked with Tim for 28 years, I feel sure that he tells the truth and would never knowingly misrepresent the facts to win an argument.'
O'Brien pauses to question when people are going to stop using words like 'facts' and instead use 'opinion.' He continues.
'However, not everyone shares his opinions. For different opinions, Wetherspoon News quotes in full, articles by Carolyn Fairburn of the CBI, page 81 (it's big this magazine), Philipmartin Stephens and Martin Wolf, pages 83 and 85, of The Financial Times, organisations that Tim has been deeply critical of.'
We'll come back to this page in a minute, this is in Wetherspoon News and apparently, if you go to pages 81, 83 and 85 you'll find some 'balance'.
O'Brien points out that there are more than 100 pages in the magazine, meaning there are only three pages to even out the 'balance'.
He then turns to page 81 to read Fairburn's article but immediately notices that something is wrong with it.
Oh, hang on a minute. There is a paragraph at the top of the article, which has been reprinted from The Times of 2017.
The paragraph, which is written in some sort of scrawly font that says 'Tim said.' So before we get the balance to counteract the other 97 pages of this rich man's vanity project, sorry, this doughty part of the elite's crusade, let's find out what Tim says.
'The equal worst final judgement of the last 40 years, emanates from the CBI.' Mate, this is the page that is balancing out your opinions. How can it contain your opinions on it Timbo?
'The equal worst final judgement of the last 40 years, emanates from the CBI.' The latest director general is Carolyn Fairburn, who has an awful record in making predictions of things concerning Brexit.
Here she is one year ago predicting Armageddon because of the spectre of no-deal. Wrong again Carolyn. In the last three months, as reported in November 2018 the UK economy has grown at three times the rate of the doomed eurozone.
O'Brien then ponders if Martin's words appear on the other two pages that even out the so-called 'balance' and wouldn't you believe it, they do.
On page 83 on Stephens' article about Boris Johnson and British nationalism reprinted from The Financial Times, Martin writes: "Tut-tut Philip, calling Boris 'a liar' is a bit harsh."
Is it? He said the other day that he never mentioned Turkey in referendum campaign and then they found lots of evidence of him mentioning Turkey in the referendum campaign.
Also, there are his marriage vows. And that time he told the owner of The Spectator that he had no intention of returning to parliament
Tim. Boris Johnson got fired from The Times for making up quotes from his own godfather. He subsequently made a career firing lies from the EU back to blighty.Â
Martin then goes on to list Johnson's achievements, which include a run as the editor of The Spectator magazine, which he calls 'not an easy gig in the internet age'.
Martin also praises Johnson's time as the Mayor of London, which O'Brien points out that during that period was a staunch remainer and defender of the EU.
'He was also twice elected as the mayor of London, not easy in a Labour city and he also led the successful Leave campaign in the referendum.'
O'Brien quips back with a fact about Johnson's former Leave buddy Michael Gove:
He did Tim but so did Michael Gove and he voted the opposite way in the last withdrawal agreement ballot.
He concludes by reading the rest of Martin's statement.
In contrast, The Financial Times has participated in the surreptitious transfer of democratic power from the people of the UK to unelected apparatchiks in Brussels.
Who is the most moral, Philip? A good question for a debate in the cerebral FT.
As you can see the Wetherspoon's Brexit magazine isn't very balanced, but it's the place to be if you fancy a beer and a burger for less than a tenner, which will probably be the only thing we can afford to eat after Brexit.
HT LBC
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