Charles Lees

Extraordinary words by Sir John Major on #Brexit at LSE last night: 🧵 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 1. “In an act of collective folly, the United Kingdom voted to lead to European Union across the world, our enemies celebrated and our friends despair.” “We left Europe on a minority vote of 37% of the election after a referendum campaign that was packed with misinformation and misjudgment, it left our country poorer, weaker and divorced from the richest free trade market that history has ever seen. National interest was brushed aside by false hopes and promises”. “False hopes and promises that even a cabinet dominated by front line Brexit enthusiasts was unable to deliver the promises they made, […] while the forecast damage of leaving the European Union has become only too apparent. The nation saw Project Fear become Project Reality very easily. It's no consolation that the majority of the public now overwhelmingly recognizes that it was mislead in their moments of triumph.” “Brexiteers predicted other countries would follow their lead and leave the European Union. None have. All saw only too clearly that Brexit was packed with disadvantages, as we meet far from others leaving the European Union, as we meet nine further nations now wish to join the European Union, which is an apt comment on how the world saw Britain's decision.” “United Kingdom once reveled, not long ago, within the memory of everyone present in this room, once reveled in being a leading member of the European Union with half a billion citizens and the undoubted first ally of the United States, the world's most eminent superpower. Today, we know we are neither, and so does the world”.