Brexit Day: 'Great Britain today becomes "Little England",' says Remain Portsmouth City Council boss

Those were the words Portsmouth City Council boss, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson last night just hours before Britain’s divorce with Brussels was finalised.

The Remain-backing Lib Dem chief said Brexit – and the landmark referendum vote of June 23, 2016 – had divided a nation and led to a ‘lack of ambition’ about Britain’s future standing in the world.

The worried politician warned the UK was now at risk of slipping back both economically and politically.

‘It’s sad we appear to have forgotten the lessons of World War Two,’ he said. ‘We have forgotten the lessons that say that working together with other nations is much better for our economy.

‘It stops protectionism and depression that we had in the 1930s. It stops that feeling in defence that we have to just rely on ourselves.

‘Brexit shows that we’re potentially going to become “Little England” and not “Great Britain”. It shows a lack of ambition.

‘I’m just sorry that we will now have much less influence in the world. Britain will be thought of less around the world.

‘I want to think that countries around the world think that Britain is an important and powerful nation.’

Cllr Vernon-Jackson said the past three years had been ‘horrible’ and added: ‘We now need to get on and move on. The country has decided. We need to make the best of it.’