Veteran singer Elton John has claimed British people did not know what they were voting for when they decided by a narrow majority in favour of Brexit.
The I’m Still Standing star also suggested that the prospect of leaving the EU is akin to a bowl of ‘cereal that makes you throw up after eating’.
Sir Elton was speaking at a charity event to raise awareness of HIV among men.
Sir Elton John, pictured, compared the Brexit process to being stuck in a maze blindfolded
The singer and campaigner claimed the British people had been tricked into supporting Brexit
In highly critical comments on the Brexit process, he described progress on leaving the EU as ‘walking through Hampton Court maze blind-folded, being turned around 16 times and trying to find your way out’.
In an interview with Channel 4 News, he said: ‘I don’t think people in Britain were told the truth to start with.
‘I don’t think they knew exactly what they were voting for.
‘They were promised something that was completely ridiculous and wasn’t economically viable.
‘And then it’s got so complicated now I just don’t know what’s going on.’
He continued: ‘There’s a new cereal called Brexit. You eat it and you throw up afterwards.’
Sir Elton was joined yesterday by Prince Harry at the event in Amsterdam which is aimed at highlighting the ‘dangerous complacency surrounding HIV.
The billion-dollar project ‘MenStar’ will target men living with or at risk of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been ravaged by AIDS since the 1980s.
Speaking at the 22nd International Aids Conference in Amsterdam, Prince Harry said: ‘The MenStar coalition is bravely tackling the root cause of this problem – the lack of awareness of HIV prevention amongst hard-to-reach young men.’
Speaking at the launch, which also featured South African actress Charlize Theron and Ndaba Mandela, the grandson of late President Nelson Mandela, Elton John said: ‘If we want to end AIDS once and for all, we must make men part of the solution.’
Around 36.7 million people around the world have HIV, according to 2016 figures cited by the United Nations’ HIV/AIDS body UNAIDS. Fewer than half of men living with HIV receive treatment compared with 60 per cent of women, it said.
‘It is time there was a global coalition to teach men to protect themselves. And in doing so, it will teach them to better protect not only their wives and girlfriends, their sisters and daughters, but also, critically, their brothers and their sons,’ the British singer said.
UNAIDS said this month that the fight against HIV/AIDS was ‘slipping off track’ and while deaths were falling and treatment rates rising, rates of new HIV infections threatened to derail efforts to defeat the disease.
Prince Harry said the campaign launch came at ‘a time when new energetic and innovative solutions are needed more than ever before’.