Red faced
Despite his 'continental' tan, John Redwood was left red faced at a speaker meeting at the Oxford Union last Friday evening. In a talk entitled "The End of Britain" Redwood attacked devolution calling it a "battering ram against the Union" and argued that the differences between English and Scottish people are far less than the similarities. Devolution, he said, was wrong because it would undermine the unity of the British Isles.
Redwood went on, however, to criticise the European Union. At one point he declared, "the whole thing stinks and I want it out in the open" . Describing a meeting he had had with a group of Brussels bureaucrats he said, "it was absolutely riveting, the cynicism of this group of officials was amazing."
However when he argued that the British people simply didn't want to be ruled from Brussels, he was interrupted by a man near the back with a strong Scottish accent. The man argued that his country had never voted for a Conservative government but had received one for eighteen years. He asked Redwood what was the difference. Redwood replied, "I'm sorry, are you from the Republic of Ireland or are you an Ulsterman?" The man replied "I'm from SCOTLAND!" provoking an hysterical reaction from the audience.