Money will be biggest Brexit challenge says Jonathan Dimbleby
He is known for his broadcasting skills and hard-hitting and documentaries, but veteran presenter Jonathan Dimbleby admits the last year has been as dramatic as any he can remember.
The younger brother of Question Time host David, Mr Dimbleby was speaking as he prepared to present Radio 4’s Any Questions? from the Festival Centre Drayton in Market Drayton on Friday night.
Dozens of people packed in to quiz the panel which he skilfully kept under control, including Hilary Benn, chair of the House of Common's Brexit Select Committee, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb, conservative MEP Dan Hannan and Allie Renison, the head of Europe and Trade Policy at the Institute of Directors.
Reflecting on the election of Donald Trump and the looming Brexit negotiations, the 72-year-old said: “There is lots to talk about at the moment.
“You have got two huge issues with Brexit and the proposed terms of negotiation from the EU and Simon Stevens on the NHS changes.
“It is the most unexpected and dramatic year of my working life and almost my whole life.
“For me, the end of the war was the other huge event and there was the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fall of Soviet communism but Brexit, in British history, is the biggest issue since the end of the Second World War.
“Then you have the election of Donald Trump which nobody could have imagined and you have a whole world of uncertainty.
“That uncertainty is increased by the fact we are going through a period of extreme turbulence.”
Topics including Brexit and the National Health Service were among half a dozen or so questions posed during the live broadcast, and Mr Dimbleby said Prime Minister Theresa May would face several challenges during her negotiations with the European Union before Brexit could happen.
He said: “The biggest immediate challenge Theresa May will face is money and until they have got a long way down the road of agreeing the principles and practicalities of money it will be very difficult to move on.
“Those inside the EU will think they have lost Britain's money and there will be lots of unity among those counties about getting that money.
“How that could be done could be in one of many ways. They have got to get a sense of a money agreement early.”
Son of famous journalist Richard Dimbleby, Jonathan is well known for many of the hugely important stories and topics he has covered in a career spanning several decades.
But there is one that sticks in his mind.
“I think the most amazing story in terms of the impact it had was the revelation of the famine in Ethiopia in 1973 which led to the overthrowing of Haile Selassie for which my film was the catalyst,” he said.
“Nobody knew what was happening until then. It was the most extremely awful situation.”
