Name: John Cleese. Age: 78. Appearance: What John Cleese looks like. Ah, yes. Tall chap. Britain’s last non-ironic moustache. That’s him, but not for much longer. Is he shaving it off? Not as far as I know. Shrinking? I doubt it. But he is leaving the country. Which country? Doesn’t he live in Los Angeles? He did. And he had an apartment in New York. But that was in the 80s, 90s and 00s, during his middle two marriages. After that, he moved to Monaco to reduce his tax bill, and to help pay alimony to his third ex-wife. I see. So now he’s leaving Monaco? Nope. He felt like “a fish out of water” there, he said, so he moved back to his place in London in 2013. A fish called wander! Never try to be funny again. Sorry. But now he’s leaving London? Not exactly. He’s also had a house in Bath since at least 2010. And that has been his main home for the past few years. I think that’s right. But he’s leaving Britain at least? Yes! Finally. On Tuesday, in a rather irritable chat on Newsnight, he said he would be off in November. Why? “I’m very disappointed with the way the country’s run,” he said. Aren’t people in democracies bound to feel that way at least half the time? I guess. And don’t quite a lot of 78-year-olds worry about the state of the country? A bit like all 10-year-olds do the dances out of Fortnite. There’s some truth in that. But in Cleese’s case, “my particular beef is with the newspapers”. Oh. Don’t worry, he doesn’t mean us. It’s the rightwing press he means. He campaigned for proportional representation and the Leveson reforms, but it seems that Brexit’s broken him. I think everyone in Britain knows that feeling. As he told Emily Maitlis: “I just thought to myself: ‘All right, I give up. I’ll try something else.’” So where’s he off to? The island of Nevis in the Caribbean. Isn’t that on the EU’s tax-haven blacklist, if I remember rightly? You remember wrongly. Nevis has now been promoted to the greylist, because they have promised to stop being a dodgy tax haven eventually. Ah well, I’m sure the streets of London or Bath, or wherever, will miss Cleese’s silly walk. I doubt that. “I’ve only been in this country two weeks this year,” he says. Do say: “I’ve had enough of this country! I’m going to stop visiting it occasionally.” Don’t say: “Right, which of my homes have I not lived in yet?”<doc-sep>Monty Python star John Cleese has announced he is moving to the Caribbean in the autumn in protest over the debate on Brexit. The 78-year-old comic – a long-time Liberal Democrat supporter – said his frustration also stemmed from the “lying and triviality” of British newspapers. Cleese told BBC2’s Newsnight he was moving to the small island of Nevis which has a population of just 11,000 in November – describing it as “one of the nicest islands” he had ever visited. The actor, who co-founded iconic comedy troupe Monty Python before going on to co-write and star in the sitcom Fawlty Towers, argued the standard of debate around Brexit was “awful”. “I’m leaving in November. I actually am leaving. I am making arrangements now,” he said. “I am so disappointed with so much about this country at the moment and I just think so much of this country is disappointing.” The actor, who backed Leave in the 2016 EU referendum, said the quality of debate around Brexit was “one of the most depressing things about this country”. He said: “There were dreadful lies on the right about all the money that would come into the National Health Service”. On the other side of the debate, he claimed Remainers such as David Cameron and George Osborne employed scare tactics. “Very few people have any idea of what’s actually going to happen. Why’s everyone so passionate when they can’t possibly know what the outcome is?” he asked. Cleese, who turned down a life peerage for political services in 1999, has been an outspoken supporter of electoral and press reform. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on London’s Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Women’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London.<doc-sep>Monty Python comic John Cleese says he is moving to the Caribbean in November in protest of the “awful” debate on Brexit. The 78-year-old told BBC Two’s Newsnight that he now plans to relocate to the “gorgeous” island of Nevis – which has a population of just 11,000 – in the autumn. “I’m leaving in November. I actually am leaving. I am making arrangements now,” said the long-time Liberal Democrat supporter. “I am so disappointed with so much about this country at the moment and I just think so much of this country is disappointing.” Cleese, who backed leave in the 2016 EU referendum, went on to brand the standard of debate around Brexit "awful". He said: “One of the most depressing things about this country was the standard of debate about Brexit. It was awful, there were dreadful lies on the right about all the money that would come into the National Health Service and just scare tactics from Cameron and Osborne."<doc-sep>
Monty Python star John Cleese has said he is going to leave the UK because of the “lying and the triviality” of British newspapers. The comedian, perhaps best known for his role as Basil Fawlty in British TV sitcom Fawlty Towers, made the claim on BBC Newsnight earlier this week. He told presenter Emily Maitlis: “I’m leaving in November and making arrangements now. I’m so disappointed with so much about this country at the moment.” He added: “My particular beef is with the newspapers.” Cleese has been openly critical of the press, presenting the inaugural “Bad Press Awards” and fronting videos for Hacked Off, who campaign for stricter regulation of the press and have called for Leveson Two to go ahead. MPs voted against continuing with the second part of the inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press in May. Cleese said: “I put my shoulder to the wheel on proportional representation and then on Leveson Two and when they were both kicked out by a right-wing government, I thought alright, I give up, I’ll try somewhere else.” Cleese had been an advocate for proportional representation when Britain was polled in 2011 about changes to the way MPs were elected, known as the Alternative Vote referendum. The UK rejected changing its voting system. Cleese told Newsnight: “The right-wing press lined up against [proportional representation] and people who didn’t really understand it were convinced by their arguments.” He added: “The Daily Mail would describe this as an extraordinary outburst but I want to share something with you that is really rather factual. “The European Union, every year asks a thousand people in 30 different countries what their trust level is in the printed media in those countries.” He pointed to research by the European Broadcasting Union, which interviewed 1,000 people from 33 European countries on the level of trust they had in the media within their own countries. The results found that the UK written press was the least trusted in Europe. Maitlis said: “What you missed is, one of the most trusted written press countries is Albania, which comes in second, so perhaps there is a correlation between the kind of press which is robust and creates a certain level of curiosity and cynicism.” In response Cleese laughed and said: “It’s the lying and the triviality that I object to. For four years we’ve had the least trusted press in Europe.” Maitlis added: “But least trusted doesn’t necessarily mean not true.” The comedy actor confirmed that he will be going to the island of Nevis in the Caribbean where he spent two months at the start of the year. “The Nevis newspaper is very good, it’s about this big,” he said, gesturing a tiny square. Watch the full interview here. Picture: Reuters/Dado Ruvic