Heseltine: Brexit was 'an act of self-annihilation'

The UK leaving the European Union was “an act of self-annihilation”, former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine has said.

In an interview to mark the 75th anniversary of the formation of the European Movement UK, Heseltine, the organisation’s president, said closer ties with Europe were as important now as they were in 1949.

And he said that those who pursued European integration in the 1940s and 1950s would feel there was now “a hole in the middle” due to the UK exiting the EU.

Heseltine said: “They would be sad that we are gone because we are important historically as a voice for some of the smaller countries as someone who has standards which are often admired across Europe.

“I think they’d just regard it as an act of self-annihilation.

“The European Movement is an important part of the armoury of protest about Britain’s position outside its own natural power group. And the audience is there because the younger generation know they have been deceived.

“They have been excluded in a way they don’t want to be excluded. And as they become increasingly vocal and numerous in the democratic process, they will want change back.”

Heseltine said that the pro-European movement in the UK needed “vision” to urge the next generation to fight for the country’s return to the heart of Europe.

“The belief that this country has by its history, by its sense of tolerance, by its practices, politically, has a record which is of huge value to humankind.

“We need to be at the centre of one of the great power blocs, not excluded from it, because that is where our future lies, and, just as important, the future of mankind.”

The European Movement UK was founded by Winston Churchill in 1949 with the aim of promoting peace and unity among European countries.