‘LIES’: Spain’s Prime Minister Sanchez compares pro-Brexit and Catalan independence campaigners

SPANISH prime minister Pedro Sanchez has likened the arguments used by pro-Brexit campaigners to those used by people in favour of Catalan independence, saying both were based on ‘lies’.

Sanchez told British, French, Germany and Italian media in a joint-interview that the two causes used similar techniques to persuade others.

“They say ‘Europe’s stealing from us!’ or ‘Spain is stealing from us!’ or ‘If we had more economic resources’.

“At the end of the day I think that engaging in campaigns or political projects based on lies eventually leads societies down a blind alley and that’s really hard to manage,” Sanchez said.

The prime minister said Europe needed reform and that perhaps British voters should have been asked if they wanted to remain in a better EU in 2016.

He added the Withdrawal Agreement drawn up by London and Brussels was the only viable deal and called on parliament to back it.

“The British parliament is facing a dilemma that will require all its MPs to act responsibly to avoid a hard, disorderly Brexit.

“The possibility of an orderly Brexit still exists and that’s the appeal I’m making to British MPs,” Sanchez said.