I do think that Brexit is the biggest foreign
policy blunder of the post-war period.
I think that we're in a world
of power blocs and of trade blocs
and it makes more sense
for the UK to be part
of that power bloc called
the European Union
and part of that trade bloc
called the European Union.
If you add to that the civilising effect
of some of the social legislation
that has been ushered in by
the European Union,
that seems to me to amount to a
virtuous combination of benefits for the UK.
That's not to say the EU is perfect,
it isn't, it's a human-made institution.
To err is human and it's flawed
and it has weaknesses
and it has drawbacks
and it's a source of frustration
but the advantages of EU membership
very greatly outweigh the disadvantages.
And, in my view, to walk away
from that power bloc
and that trade bloc
is a mistake.
I think that we will suffer in trade terms
and suffer in terms of global standing
and influence and that seems to me
to be so obvious that only
an extraordinarily clever and sophisticated
person could fail to grasp the point.
Should the UK not be bound
by the 2016 referendum,
my simple answer is no, it's not
bound by the 2016 referendum.
That is not to disrespect it,
it's not to sniff at it,
it's not to say that it's of no account
but it isn't the final word on the subject.
As others have observed, I make the point
that in 2016 people voted
by a narrow margin for departure
but they didn't vote for a destination.
And if you look at the words
of campaigners for Brexit,
very often they said different things
at different times
and between them there was
absolutely no agreement
about what Brexit meant.
