Monty Python legend John Cleese has revealed he plans to leave Britain for good and move to the Caribbean in a damning TV speech against the media and Brexit.
The 78-year-old actor slammed the alleged “lying and triviality” of British newspapers in an appearance on BBC Two’s Newsnight show – and branded the standard of debate over Brexit “one of the most depressing things about this country”.
He said he now plans to make the permanent move to the small island of Nevis in November, following years of fighting for press and electoral reform.
Admitting his “particular beef” was with newspapers, Cleese presented a complex graph he claimed showed figures from an EU report that showed the UK had one of the lowest levels of trust in the printed media.
As presenter Emily Maitlis attempted to suggest the figures just showed that the press was robust, Cleese laughed loudly – prompting her to add: “Least trusted does not necessarily mean not true.”
He took particular aim at the second phase of the Leveson inquiry into press standards, and claimed it had been “kicked out by rightwing governments”, adding: “I just thought to myself: ‘Right I’ll just give up and try somewhere else’.”
The actor, who famously turned down a life peerage in 1999, also took aim at the level of discussion and debate over Brexit, after revealing he had voted ‘leave’ in the 2016 EU referendum.
“There were dreadful lies on the right about all the money that would come into the National Health Service,” he claimed on the show, before claiming David Cameron and George Osborne – who voted to remain – used ‘scare tactics’.
“Very few people have any idea of what’s actually going to happen. Why’s everyone so passionate when they can’t possibly know what the outcome is?” he asked.
He then added of Nevis: “It’s one of the nicest islands I’ve ever been on. The relationship between the races is absolutely superb. The people there are really kind.”