The BBC’s political editor has raised eyebrows after saying she thought it was wrong for Remainer politicians to try to reverse the result of the EU referendum.
Appearing on the BBC’s Brexitcast podcast, Laura Kuenssberg appeared to attribute blame for Labour’s loss on those in the party backing Remain for wanting a second referendum.
While Kuenssberg said there “legitimate reasons” to hold a second referendum, she said it was not the politicians’ job to attempt to “undo” the result, and suggested history would not look kindly at them.
She said: “From a historical point of view, I think when people look back at this period and they examine the extent of the Labour defeat and was it Corbyn, Brexit or all the rest of it.
“I think people will look back and think, ‘hang on – people voted for something in 2016 and then lots of people in the political establishment in Westminster spent three years trying to undo that. What?.'”
As co-presenter Adam Fleming interrupted to point out that people took David Dimbleby literally when he said “we’re out” on the night of the result, Kuenssberg agreed.
She said: “People thought we would be out the next day. In the 2016 EU referendum campaign politicians on both sides, including the then-prime minister David Cameron stood on platforms and said if you vote this way, it will happen.
“They said there was no going back, and that this wasn’t a vote that you can have a second opinion on.”
She continued: “Lo and behold, three years later people are scratching their heads in the Labour Party, thinking ‘maybe that was a bit of problem that they were trying to undo something that people voted for’.
“There are perfectly legitimate reasons for people to campaign for a second referendum.”
“But, covering it as a story, to me it just seemed like, people voted for that. It’s not your job to undo it!”
It comes as former Labour leader Ed Miliband was announced as one of those spearheading an ‘inquest’ into Labour’s defeat.