GB news: Mark Dolan slams Hilary Mantel

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In a ferocious takedown of the Wolf Hall author, GB News’ Mark Dolan hit out at Ms Mantel for the scathing comments made towards Britons who voted for Brexit and accused the nation of poor treatment of migrants claiming the UK is an “artificial and precarious construct”. Mr Dolan expressed his surprise at having to give Ms Mantel “a history lesson” on the British Isle’s and its role in Europe before stressing that membership of the European Union was not what defined Britain as being European or not, rather the bloc is simply a political union that holds no bearing over identity.

Mr Dolan slammed: “Although she loves her life in the West Country, I’m sure she has got a nice place, she has made a few bobs.

“She is thinking of getting an Irish passport so that she can be European again!”

He added: “Strange, isn’t it?! That such a knowledgable author whose expertise lies in vividly recreating episodes of the past… thinks we are not Europeans anymore!”

And in a brutal dig, Mr Dolan slammed how he was surprised that he had to give “this history icon a history lesson”.

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He stressed further surprise at Ms Mantel’s comments surrounding the issue of European identity and her suggestions it is tied to membership of the European Union.

He argued that the EU is “merely a political body” and that whilst Britain left the European Union and decided to change the way we trade with the bloc “we are as European as we ever have been”.

Mr Dolan said: “Ever since there have been British isles, British politics and economics have been European and always will be!”

The presenter went on to quote former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who once said Britain is “inextricably part of Europe” before adding how no one can take that away from the UK.

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Hilary Mantel hits out at Dominic Raab over holiday

His comments come as Ms Mantel told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Brexit voters are “callow opportunists, insincere and devious and often ridiculous”.

She added how “we see the ugly face of contemporary Britain in the people on the beaches abusing exhausted refugees” before going on to slam Boris Johnson as “a complex personality” that “should not be in public life”.

The double Booker Prize winner said as a result she is seeking to relocate to Ireland as she felt the need “to become a European again”.

She added how she believed the United Kingdom was “an artificial and precarious construct” claiming how she never felt English due to being “northern, working-class and Catholic.”

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But her comments sparked an angry backlash from academics and professors.

Historian David Starkey branded Ms Mantel’s comments  “extraordinary”, adding “the principle of rejecting a country that has made your fortune and honoured you . . . there is something repellent about that.”

While Nigel Biggar, regius professor of moral and pastoral theology at Oxford University told The Times: “Hilary Mantel is a fine novelist and her political opinions seem deeply felt. Depth of feeling, of course, is no measure of wisdom.

“All states are artificial constructs — not least, the European Union — but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth supporting.”

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