Damon Albarn has described the prospect of Jacob Rees-Mogg becoming prime minister as “really terrifying” as he reaffirmed a promise to leave the country if the “extremist” took power.
The Blur frontman said he feared Mr Rees-Mogg could topple Theresa May as Britain fast approaches the Brexit deadline of March 29.
Albarn, 51, added that two years ago he had vowed to leave the UK if the MP for North East Somerset ever took power.
READ MORE: Jacob Rees-Mogg: A bad deal is better than remaining in the EU
Reflecting on reports of an attempted coup by Leave-backing MPs over the weekend, Albarn said: “That terrifies me. The fact that Jacob Rees-Mogg was at Chequers (the PM’s country house) this weekend.
“Jacob Rees-Mogg, prime minister of the UK, or even in the Cabinet, is a really terrifying proposition for all of us.
Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg (Steve Parsons/PA)
“I said two years ago that if he came properly into power I would leave the country. I’m serious.
“He’s too right. I don’t want this country to be inhabited by that level of right extremism – it’s extremism. There’s no place for extremism. It’s troubling.”
Albarn, who is about to embark on a tour of intimate venues with his band The Good, The Bad and The Queen, said views held by Brexiteer MPs were not representative of the country.
READ MORE: Speaker John Bercow apologises after causing Commons uproar with Tory MP insult
He added: “It might resonate in north Somerset but it means nothing in Blackpool.
“It was one of the first things that blew my mind about the referendum, was that people were getting into bed who had nothing in common and had no intention of helping each other.”
Albarn, who backs a second referendum on leaving the European Union, marched for a final say on Brexit alongside a reported one million others during Saturday’s Put it to the People event in London.
The musician, who writes and performs as the virtual rock band Gorillaz, also marched against the Iraq War in 2003.
Comparing the two, he said: “I was right at the front of the first one and I was pretty much at the back of this one. A very different dynamic obviously.
Albarn performs with The Good, The Bad and The Queen (Stars Redmond/PA)
“It was very civilised. It was articulate. People had just really gone to town with their placards. Some of them were hilarious. It wasn’t a negative thing at all.
“I just think it’s tragic that we have created this division in this country. That’s where the sadness on the record comes from.”
The Good, The Bad and The Queen features former bassist for The Clash Paul Simonon, The Verve’s Simon Tong and acclaimed Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen.
Their second album Merrie Land, released in November, addresses Brexit Britain through the lens of music hall and traditional folk music.
The Good, The Bad and The Queen will tour the UK from April 12 to April 19, beginning in Norwich and ending in London.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel