‘Brexit will see rioting in the North’ Former PM Gordon Brown blasts decision to leave EU
‘Brexit will see rioting in the North’ Former PM Gordon Brown blasts decision to leave EU
FORMER Prime Minister Gordon Brown has angered voters by saying that the north of England will riot if the country leaves the EU.
Mr Brown, who left office in 2010, said Brexit voters’ “post-referendum optimism” will be “short-lived”.
The failed prime minister warned the fall in the pound and job losses would see “discontent turn to anger” in northern counties.
The 65-year-old former politician blasted the UK as being “united in name only” as he called for a UK-wide “people’s constitutional convention”.
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The former Prime Minister said Brexit would lead to unrest in the North
Speaking to the Fabian Society in London, Mr Brown said: “Sadly, the post-referendum optimism felt by Leave voters in the North whose rebellion gave Leave a majority will be short-lived.”
Justifying his comments, the ex-PM said the north was far more dependent on trade with the EU than the South because 58 per cent of goods in the north east are exported to the bloc compared to 39 per cent from London.
Mr Brown added: “Lying behind the popular revolt are huge structural inequalities that the current Government has failed to address.
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Gordon Brown was speaking at The Fabian Society
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The Remain campaigner said discontent in the North could escalate
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Mr Brown said Brexit would disproportionately affect exports from the North East
“We could see discontent turn into anger as standards of living fall and jobs start to go.”
The former Labour Party leader, who was a vocal member of the Remain campaign in the lead up to June’s referendum, said the only solution to unrest in the North was to give additional political powers to regions – including controls over agriculture and fishing currently in the hands of Brussels bureaucrats, as well as a cash injection to cover the impact of Brexit.
