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Madness star Suggs says he regrets calling Brexiteers ‘small-minded’

Madness frontman Suggs speaks at an anti-austerity protest in 2017: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Madness frontman Suggs speaks at an anti-austerity protest in 2017: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Suggs has expressed regret over calling Brexiteers “small-minded”.

The Madness frontman made the comments in a 2016 interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, adding that Brexiteers “feared what appears to be different from themselves”.

He has now said that he regrets making the claims, adding: “Everything comes back to bite your f***ing arse nowadays.”

“I regret that,” he told The Mirror. “I didn’t mean that. I mean I just thought it was a kind of a moronic campaign. It didn’t have any kind of reality.

“So as time went on I appreciated people’s genuine feelings and that it was a democratic vote, and I have to accept that.”

The singer/songwriter also added that the Brexit referendum nearly tore apart Madness.

“Even in my band there were Brexiters and Remainers, like every family in the country,” he said. “We had punch-ups about all that.”

Suggs voted to stay in the European Union, and also said in 2016 that the UK was on “a highway to hell” following the Leave victory.