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31st Mar 2018

“We’re in very dangerous times” – Bob Geldof on Brexit and the rise of nationalism across the world

Dave Hanratty

Late Late Show Bob Geldof

“I’m not a remainer; I’m a stopper. Stop this madness.”

Bob Geldof was one of Ryan Tubridy’s guests on Friday night’s edition of The Late Late Show, and the Boomtown Rats leader was in typically spirited form.

Having offered fresh fighting words for Aung San Suu Kyi when recalling last November’s Freedom of Dublin controversy, Geldof also discussed the subject of Brexit and the increase of nationalism across the globe.

“Evil men, men and women of ill intent, curdle that natural sense of place and belonging into a political philosophy that only leads to blood,” said Geldof.

“Nationalism is a very dangerous step,” he added, before citing examples including Donald Trump in America, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey and Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Having previously declared that “the British have knifed themselves in the gut” regarding the Brexit affair, he offered a sobering summary of the current situation when on the Late Late couch.

“We’re in very dangerous times,” Geldof said.

“Brexit is largely being manipulated by English nationalists. There’s reasons for it; the English feel disenfranchised by an idea of Britain, and as Britain doesn’t really have a cohesive sense anymore – when there was an empire, it did  – ‘then who are we?'”

“Look, I’m not a remainer; I’m a stopper,” Geldof concluded. “Stop. Stop this madness.”

Clip via The Late Late Show

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