Mayor Magid: 'The way the current government has been tackling Brexit has been quite shambolic'

The Lord Mayor of Sheffield is not impressed with how the government has been conducting Brexit negotiations.

In fact, 28-year-old Councillor Magid, the black, Muslim, former refugee Green party member - who took up office back in May with an eye for change - thinks it’s ‘shambolic'.

The Mayor travelled down from Sheffield to talk to indy100. With what has come to be known as his customary charm, Mayor Magid launched into a critique of Theresa May’s handling of Brexit following the referendum.

"The way the current government has been tackling Brexit has been quite shambolic if I’m being honest," he said, unusually solemn, respectful of the gravitas of the situation.

It wasn’t done openly and it’s a good example of the way the cabinet members were all kinds of leaving.

People just want an honest, fair way of going ahead with Brexit and I don’t think the current government is doing that.

In July, Theresa May suffered the loss of eight members of staff after they resigned over her Brexit plans.

Among them was former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and former secretary of state for exiting the European Union David Davis. Both were hard blows to the prime minister’s team, especially as the March deadline fast approaches.

Since then, Theresa May confirmed she will be taking overall control of the EU negotiations, and she announced that she will keep the UK under EU laws for another 21 months, risking the wrath of Brexiteers.

Mayor Magid believes the solution is simple:

We need to consult the people of this country to actually take back control of the whole situation because it’s not fair.

What we need to be doing is actually giving the people of Britain a meaningful vote and say, ‘Listen, here, the people’s vote on the final deal.’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn recently penned a ‘build it in Britain’ speech, in which he compels the government to stop relying on imports and to keep contracts in Britain.

Many in the Labour leader’s party want him to soften his stance on Brexit. What does mayor Magid think?

I feel he’s not being strong enough in certain points such as when it comes to climate change, when it even comes to giving people a meaningful vote.

For a party that advocates rhetoric such as ‘for the many and not the few’, yet wants to keep a voting system that only serves the few…[he] isn’t somebody I feel as if I’d want as a leader.

Mayor Magid’s appeal to the government to give people a ‘meaningful vote’ is in line with The Independent’s campaign #FinalSay, which demands the public make a decision on the final Brexit deal.

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