Britons’ decision to quit EU is ‘unwise’

They should not have been allowed to stage referendum

British people should not have been allowed to stage the EU referendum because they are not wise enough to make such an important decision, TV broadcaster and author Sir David Attenborough has said.

He said the 17.4million British people who voted to leave the crumbling bloc have helped create a situation he describes as a “mess”.

The broadcaster argued the decision over whether the UK should remain in the EU should have been left to MPs, who could have voted on behalf of the electorate

David told the Radio Times: “What we mean by Parliamentary democracy is surely that we find someone we respect who we think is probably wiser than we are, who is prepared to take the responsibility of pondering difficult things and then trust him or her to vote on our behalf.”

Chiming in on immigration, Sir David said: “It’s very easy, as we all know, to be very tolerant of minorities until they become majorities… you find they’re actually telling you what to do and they’ve actually taken over the town council and what you thought was your home isn’t. I’m not supporting it, I’m saying it’s what it is.”

The 90-year-old also raised concerns about the public’s preference for popularism over expert opinion when it comes to current affairs.

Referring to Donald Trump’s prominence in the US, the BBC star said: “There’s confusion, isn’t there, between populism and parliamentary democracy.

“I mean, that’s why we’re in the mess we are with Brexit, is it not? Do we really want to live by this kind of referendum?”