John Oliver tried to explain Brexit to America and proved what an utter mess it's become

Comedian John Oliver tried to explain Brexit to America, and simply highlighted the utter mess that has become the EU debate:

Speaking to The Guardian, he said:

You've got to go back a long way to even start making sense of this. Initially, you’re having to explain what Europe is, the fact that there are different countries in it, and that some of them are part of this union. At which point, you’ll have to go right back to the start again and explain it all in more detail. The have absolutely no working knowledge of what the EU actually is over here.

The quickest way to explain it would be that British people feel aloof about everything including the continent of Europe.

British people have been increasingly involved in campaigning since David Cameron introduced the referendum set to take place on 23 June, but both Brexit and Bremain campaigners have been accused of scaremongering.

As a result, there has been increasingly confusing information given to the public about the effects of leaving.

David Lidington Europe Minister in the Foreign Office told The Guardian:

I do find it extraordinary that those who want Britain to leave the EU seem to hold to two utterly contradictory propositions at the same time.

Earlier this month David Cameron was accused of scaremongering tactics when he said Calais refugee camps could move to Kent if Britain leave the EU.

While campaigners have grown in numbers as the debate heats up about the future of the EU, it seems that intense interest does not translate well across the pond.

There is no interest whatsoever in the intricacies of European politics over here. I think it’s fascinating. We did a piece on the Scottish referendum but even there you’re working with contained examples of things they understand. They understand Braveheart: the fact that an Australian man once painted his face blue, wore a skirt and screamed at an Englishman wearing a crown. They have a fundamental working knowledge of the tension in that relationship.

• John Oliver

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