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Brexiteer Mark Francois threatened the EU with 'perfidious Albion on speed' and the internet lost it

Brexiteer Mark Francois threatened the EU with 'perfidious Albion on speed' and the internet lost it

A few months ago people barely knew who Mark Francois was, but a couple of outrageous statements here and there and all of sudden he's found himself actually being allowed to speak in public.

Not only can he actually form sentences that are somewhat coherent, Francois seems to know some big words (or words that were fed to him by the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson).

Speaking at a meeting of the hard-Brexit think-tank dubbed 'The Bruges Group', Francois did several strange things, such as read a Tennyson poem and stand behind a podium with a picture of Margaret Thatcher attached to it.

Yet, there was something stranger beyond all that nonsense. In a statement addressed to the European Union, the 53-year-old issued a stern warning to the EU over Brexit.

If you now try to hold us in against our will you will be facing perfidious Albion on speed. 

It would, therefore, be much better for all our sakes if we were to pursue our separate destinies in a spirited mutual respect.

As Boris Johnson recently quoted Moses' warning to Pharaoh: 'Let my people go.'

Yes, those are words that an actual human being said without a single sense of irony or self-awareness.

The 'let my people go line' seemed to go down well, with the two old women in the audience joining in, but the 'perfidious Albion' line elicited a lot of laughs, much to the surprise of Francois.

According to Wikipedia, 'perfidious Albion' is a pejorative phrase that relates to 'international relations, diplomatic sleights, duplicity, treachery and hence infidelity', the origins of which lie in the 13 century.

We can't be sure if Francois actually knew what he was saying there but, in terms of ridiculous Brexiteer statements, this ranks up there with the best and it soon became a very infectious joke.

There was speculation if to whether 'perfidious Albion' was a football team.

Maybe they are a band?

We're sure the EU are bricking it...

HT The Poke

More: Brexiteer MP Mark Francois wants another vote on Theresa May's deal and everyone is pointing the irony​

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