Bafta awards 2019: Eddie Marsan says Britain 'reinvented its past to justify Brexit' in presenters speech

He made the comment while presenting the award for Best Costume Design, alongside Cynthia Erivo

Eddie Marsan dropped the night’s first real jab at the Brexit chaos at the 2019 Bafta awards.

While presenting the award for Best Costume Design with Cynthia Erivo, the actor described the difficulty of creating historically accurate costumes for films set in the UK.

He then added that it was particularly difficult to do since Britain had “reinvented its past to justify Brexit”.

The night elsewhere was almost entirely absent of real political statement, save for a brief mention of brexit from Andy Serkis, who also made an unintentional dig at Queen guitarist Brian May while presenting the award for Best Original Music.

Host Joanna Lumley, however, couldn’t resist a jab at the current Oscars controversy in her opening monologue.

“Thank goodness Bafta has a host, though I suspect that has to do with the fact that I’m not on Twitter,” she joked.

Oscars organisers have confirmed that this year’s ceremony will have no official host for the first time in 30 years, after Kevin Hart stepped down after a number of old tweets resurfaced in which the comedian expressed homophobic views.

She also lightly mocked A Star is Born director Bradley Cooper who – as director, star, producer, and screenwriter – Lumley declared was a “multitalented genius” who “needs to learn how to delegate”.

While referencing Alfonso Cuarón’s nominations in six different categories, Lumley then turned to Cooper and added: “pull your finger out, sweetheart”.