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'Wolf of Wall Street' Jordan Belfort's advice to Theresa May on ending Brexit 'cluster f***'

The real-life Wolf of Wall Street has said Theresa May needs to align logic with emotion and communicate clearly to end the Brexit “cluster f***”.

Jordan Belfort, the basis of Martin Scorsese’s 2013 blockbuster, gained notoriety with his ability to seal big money deals and shared his advice to the Prime Minister with the Standard.

The 56-year-old former stockbroker turned motivational speaker believes he could coach the PM to get the sign-off she needs.

“I’m sure I could,” said Mr Belfort, when asked if he could help the embattled Tory leader.

“If there’s one thing I’m good at, this is like my super power.”

Jordan Belfort (left) was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street (Getty Images)
Jordan Belfort (left) was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street (Getty Images)

Opening up on Brexit, which to him “seems like some sort of cluster f***”, he said in his opinion issues developed after an emotive choice became bogged down in bureaucratic debate.

“I think the biggest issue with what happened with Brexit is there’s emotional certainty and logical certainty. People don’t buy on logic they buy on emotion,” said the father-of-two, who was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio on screen.

“The vote was based on emotion, the logical side now needs to catch up.

“I really believe that big mistake that she made is that she’s not playing on the emotional side, she allowed the conversation to devolve into strictly logical.

“I remember the energy and excitement [during the Brexit vote] and that’s all been lost.”

Theresa May needs to harness emotion and logic, according to Jordan Belfort (PA)
Theresa May needs to harness emotion and logic, according to Jordan Belfort (PA)

According to Mr Belfort, people make decisions based first on emotion, then justify what they choose with logic.

To breach any impasse, he said Mrs May needs to bring back feelings to the discussions then express this in a way which boosts her points.

However, while warning the PM off being purely pragmatic he added that only playing on people’s sentiment could equally cause her to become unstuck.

“If you just focus on the latter [emotional certainty], the logical brain serves as the human bulls*** detector,” he said.

Jeremy Corbyn must be offered some signs of compromise to seal a deal, said Jordan Belfort (Getty Images)
Jeremy Corbyn must be offered some signs of compromise to seal a deal, said Jordan Belfort (Getty Images)

Unfortunately, despite thinking there is a middle-ground the PM could discover to move beyond the stalemate, he does not think the essential skill of oration is a strong point for the PM.

“It does not seem like she’s a very adept communicator. I’m sure she’s a very nice person but she’s not very adept at that,” he said.

“You can have the greatest idea in the world but then when you open your mouth to speak, are you adding to it or are you subtracting from it? I’d say she’s falling on the side of the latter.”

Another problem issue that has arisen is having conflict with the people she is negotiating with, Mr Belfort said.

The PM has been critical of MPs who vote down her deal while there have also been spats with EU figureheads.

The former Stratton Oakmont chief feels in any negotiation having an affinity with the other party is crucial.

“It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to influence people if you’re not in rapport with people. Typically, when you break rapport it’s very difficult. I think she needs to change her approach.

“You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”

In cross party talks he also advised the Prime Minister make compromises to gain traction.

The Labour party frequently criticised Mrs May and her Government for not budging in their discussions and Mr Belfort stated it is important to find points of concession to then manoeuvre the upper hand in talks.

New York-born Mr Belfort, whose rise as a broker through to his incarceration for fraud and money laundering was depicted in his memoir and then the award-winning film, suggested Mrs May look at what she can give.

He eluded to conceding on points with symbolic meaning but perhaps not major gravitas.

“The key to successfully negotiating is to give to get. Give away things that you know you can give. In other words, there are some things that so important to Labour but they are not really as important to her,” said Mr Belfort, describing these sort of offerings as “intangible” assets.

“The idea is that if you can give away things that are super important to them but are not as important to you, that’s how you can close.”

However, despite his esteemed tactical nous, Mr Belfort does not think he will receive contact from the PM anytime soon and said: “I doubt she’s going to give me a call.”

Mr Belfort is travelling to the UK in May for four tour dates, with tickets available from www.jordanbelforttour.co.uk