Row erupts after Brexiteer says EU got better Brexit deal as they have it in for Britain

Councillor Matthew Goodwin-Freeman launched a furious rant against the EU A heated row erupted on GB News with a London councillor saying the EU got a better Brexit deal than the UK. Matthew Goodwin-Freeman, a Conservative councillor in Harrow, clashed with Jonathan Portes, a professor of economics at King’s College London, on the breakfast show. Cllr Goodwin-Freeman said the deal was poor for the UK in comparison to the EU and they had “the pick of the crop”, he insisted this was the EU’s fault. He said the bloc “wanted to punish us for having the audacity to take back our sovereignty” and called for a focus on “the long-term”, calling for the UK to “get back to global Britain” by negotiating trade deals with the rest of the world. He argued “the EU is 27 countries, there’s 195 in the world”, and said he didn’t trust “Sir Flip Flop”, meaning Sir Keir Starmer. READ MORE Lee Anderson attacks BBC over Rishi Sunak’s fiery clash with Nick Robinson Prof Portes called the current arrangement “a bad deal from a UK perspective”. He added it was causing “significant economic damage” to the country. A “significant majority” of people in the UK have “recognised the reality that it’s not working for us”, the professor said. The Harrow councillor then adopted a French accent as he said the Labour leader “is going to rework the deal and the EU has gone ‘non, s’il vous plait, we don’t want to redo the deal'”. The explosive debate was launched during Eamonn Holmes’ GB News morning show Sir Keir recently suggested he would look to rewrite the existing Brexit deal, prompting a heated discussion over the state of the EU exit. Mr Portes said this type of attitude was not conducive to securing a more profitable Brexit deal with the EU. He said the UK was “more interested in mocking French accents than it is in a constructive relationship with our European partners.” Later, taking to X, he added the councillor was “silly for putting on a (terrible) fake French accent to mock foreigners during what was supposed to be a serious discussion about trade issues.” SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Professor Jonathan Portes conceded the EU had the better deal – but called the councillor “clownish” Trending