Isle of Wight Conservative councillor, Vanessa Churchman, called in to LBC’s well-known Brexit-sceptic James O’Brien over the weekend during a phone-in about Brexit.
The Havenstreet and Ashey councillor, who is a governor at Haylands Primary School, the chair of Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee, sits on the council’s Planning Committee and is Vice Chair of the Local Government Pension Scheme, gave her reasons for wanting to leave the EU as,
“First of all, they are totally unaccountable with regard to the billions we have given them and the billions we are still giving them.
“In this country, if you did not publish properly audited accounts you could end up in jail.”
O’Brien: “They do publish audited accounts”
The presenter countered her statement saying,
“They do publish audited accounts.”
Vanessa replied,
“Do they? Well, I’ve been misled.”
He then went on to fact check the statement, explaining when and how the accounts were audited and published.
Laughing
When he asked for her second reason for wanting leave the EU, adding, “I hope it’s better than reason one,” Cllr Churchman laughed, prompting James O’Brien to say,
“I don’t think you should be laughing.”
The points behind Cllr Churchman’s second reason for wanting to leave the EU were also challenged by the presenter who finished the call by saying,
“Please don’t take offence, your answer to every evidence-based question I’ve asked you about the groundings for your views has been ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I didn’t know’.”
Isle of where?
O’Brien wasn’t completely clear on his own facts, seemingly mistaking the Isle of Wight for the Isle of Man, in his shopping example.
You can listen to the call below by clicking on the play button.
Image: © With kind permission of Allan Marsh
