'It's Bound to Be an Awkward Situation' - British Explorer on Brexit
© REUTERS / Henry Nicholls
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201803091062377519-sir-ranulph-brexit-britain-uk-eu/
Sir Ranulph "Ran" Fiennes is a world-renowned British explorer and holder of several endurance records, in addition to this, he is also a prolific writer and poet. Sputnik interviewed Sir Ranulph to hear his reflections on everything from his exploring achievements to Brexit and the recent Beast from the East snowstorm that hit the UK.
Fiennes served in the British Army for eight years and later undertook numerous expeditions, becoming the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot.
In May 2009, at the age of 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest.
Sputnik: Britain was plagued by the Beast from the East last week, did you have any problems?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes: I was giving lectures and the main motorways were blocked up in the North, the road that approaches my farm was cut off, but for last ten years there has been a lot less snow, this has suddenly gone back to how it used to be.
Oh no 🙈🙈🙈#Leeds #visitleeds #uksnow #snowisback #westyorkshire pic.twitter.com/r8C4TfG2Nq
— Leeds Life (@Leeds_dot_Life) March 8, 2018
​Sputnik: Having endured some of the world's most treacherous weather conditions, does anything like this ever faze you?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes: Obviously, you've got more problems in a car with standard wheels than when you are a man hauling on skis, no one can run into you and you can't go to sleep at the wheel, so there are different problems in a civilised meeting with cold weather, compared to being out in the wild.
Sputnik: Have your travels given you a deep interest in international affairs and politics?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes: No; not at all, because when we did our expeditions there were no newspapers, it was all Morse code and we weren't digital, so we are very cut off.
I can remember on one occasion after two and a half months floating about in an ice flow above Siberia, we had a solar panel which gave two minutes of listening to BBC World Service per day, I can remember one day when my fellow explorer said the United Kingdom is at war and I said, who with? And we couldn't hear with who it was. We sat there for about five days with bad reception arguing about who we were at war with. We really were cut off, so the answer is no.
Sputnik: What are your thoughts on Brexit?
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Sir Ranulph Fiennes: I'm deeply worried because we don't like uncertainties and if you've got a country where half the people think one thing and the other half think another thing, it's bound to be an awkward situation.
Sputnik: What are your thoughts on Scottish Independence?
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Sir Ranulph Fiennes: They obviously voted against independence by a very short margin, which I was very grateful for. There's no way that as a nation, if we achieved something great, we would only use an English flag, we only use the Union Jack, which is the British flag.
We're very proud of the British Empire, there never was an English Empire, my father served in a Scottish regiment and I later did too, we're English blood but like to call ourselves British and I think Wales, Scotland and Ireland should be able to decide their own things.
Sputnik: How important have your challenges been for developing mental health and strength?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes: Physical toughness and the mental ability to keep going is not the same as the mental problem of depression. That is not what happens on an expedition, it's a much simpler form of dealing with your inner weaknesses when this weak voice comes into your head saying that you want to stop and you've got to deal with it.
Sputnik: What other challenges are you aiming to conquer and what is your biggest inspiration?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes: I want to try and get the 18.9 million pounds that we've raised for charity up to 20 million and my wife is my biggest inspiration.
The views and opinions expressed by Sir Ranulph Fiennes are those of the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
snowstorm, independence, Brexit, United Kingdom, Scotland