Former Member of Parliament, Minister for Europe and Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind speaks to members of the DPIR about the history that made Brexit a reality.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind voted Remain but is a self-described moderate euroskeptic. He explains how the results on 23 June were "an accident waiting to happen" given certain unique attributes of the United Kingdon. In particular, he argues that the continuous rule of law and lack of invasion on home soil made EU interference on domestic areas particularly sour when compared with interference in post-communist countries, which were perhaps more motivated by the reinforcement of their independence and democracy to follow the EU institutional ideas. Sir Malcolm Rifkind also addresses the question of whether the UK will pursue a 'hard' or 'soft' Brexit and what these terms actually mean in the context of new relations between European countries.