‘Believe in the bin’: Rory Stewart amuses debate viewers with Brexit analogy

The Tory leadership candidate compared Brexit promises to getting rubbish into a bin during a debate.

Conservative leadership hopeful Rory Stewart got laughs from the audience Channel 4’s leadership debate as he compared Brexit negotiations with trying to get bags of rubbish into a bin.

While speaking about Brexit with fellow runners Michael Gove and Dominic Raab, Mr Stewart criticised the “competition of machismo” in the debate, saying he was not a “defeatist” but “realistic” about Brexit.

He said: “It reminds me of, I was trying to cram a whole series of rubbish bins into the rubbish bin and my wife said, ‘you’re never going to get these three huge bags of rubbish in’. I was tempted like Michael and like Dom to say, ‘believe in the bin! Believe in Britain! It’s nonsense!”

Who had 'believe in the bin' in their #C4debate slogan tombola tonight?

— Joel Taylor (@JoelTaylorhack) June 16, 2019

Social media users enjoyed the analogy, with several people on Twitter quoting the phrase “believe in the bin”.

The Q&A-style Tory leadership debate took place on Channel 4 on Sunday evening, and began with a question from the audience about how the party can beat Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage in an election.

Michael Gove was the first to answer: “There is nothing more important than preventing Jeremy Corbyn getting into Parliament.”

Rory Stewart is trying to make "believe in the bin" a thing in the same way #LoveIsland is trying to make "it is what it is" a thing #C4Debate

— Jane Merrick (@janemerrick23) June 16, 2019

In the first televised debate of the leadership campaign, the five candidates taking part all agreed the next prime minister had to take Britain out of the EU.

An empty podium reserved for Boris Johnson, who declined to take part in the debate, was placed at centre stage, between Sajid Javid and Dominic Raab.

The audience was made up of “floating voters” willing to choose the Tories at an election.

MADRID (AP) — British and Spanish foreign ministers said a new round of talks held Friday over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain’s exit from the European Union were productive and significant progress was made.

The meeting was between Spain's José Manuel Albares, Britain’s David Cameron and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels. Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo also attended. It was the first time representatives from the four areas had come together for talks on the issue.

In a statement after the meeting, the parties said "discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with significant progress achieved.

“General political lines have been agreed (on), including on airport, goods and mobility. Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks to conclude the EU-UK Agreement,” it added.

All sides are eager to clinch a deal before European elections in June.

Britain left the European Union in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved. Talks on a deal to ensure people and goods can keep flowing over the Gibraltar-Spain border have made halting progress in the 19 rounds of negotiations so far, but both Spanish and U.K. officials have recently expressed optimism about a deal.

In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in Gibraltar supported remaining in the EU. The tiny territory on Spain's southern tip depends greatly on access to the EU market for its 34,000 inhabitants.

Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain has maintained its sovereignty claim ever since. Relations concerning the Rock, as it is popularly referred to in English, have had their ups and downs over the centuries.

A major sticking point has been who controls Gibraltar’s airport, which under the proposed free-movement deal would be an external border of the EU. The U.K. and Gibraltar have resisted Spain’s insistence that Spanish border officials be based at the airport, which is also home to a Royal Air Force base.

The British Foreign Office said Thursday that while it did not expect a final agreement Friday, "getting senior political figures from the UK, European Commission, Spain and Gibraltar in one room is significant.”

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless reported from London.