This clip of Rik Mayall 'predicting Brexit' in a 2002 comedy show is leaving people speechless

"Your new policy, which will make you wildly popular, is to leave the European Union, block up the Channel tunnel, and reinstate the old imperial measures."

No, this isn't leaked audio from a pre-referendum Boris Johnson briefing, it's actually resurfaced political satire – but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was real.

The quote is from the 2002 comedy show Believe Nothing, which was based on the fictional professor Adonis Cnut (no comment), who was regarded as Britain's Cleverest Man.

In this episode, the character (played by comedian Rik Mayall, who died in 2014) is helping a minister strategise following a failed invasion of Cuba. The solution? Set up a "Royal Commission" to blame the EU for the country's failure.

Cnut goes on to explain to the commission exactly why this is an excellent plan:

Britain will leave the European Union and will once more be a quaint and backward back-water which we'll be able to manipulate effortlessly as our very own offshore island.

The clip resurfaced on social media, where it was originally posted by Hannah McLachlan, alongside some very appropriate mind-blown emojis.

It has since been shared more than 2,000 times, and people are shocked at the eery prescience of the storyline.

Others also drew parallels between a certain real-life politician and the fictional Conservative MP Alan B'Stard who was also played by Rik Mayall in The New Statesman, a political comedy show which ran for four seasons starting in 1987.

This is what happens when real-life politics reaches beyond-parody status, we guess...