Gordon Brown: Union Is ‘Sleepwalking Into Oblivion’ Amid Rise In Nationalism

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has said that the UK, having previously been admired around the world for being inclusive and outward-looking, now presents a picture of division, intolerance and introversion.

In an opinion column for The Observer newspaper, Brown wrote that three weeks into Boris Johnson’s premiership, “English nationalism is on the rise, the Conservative and Unionist party has been reincarnated as the Conservative and Brexit party (and) unionism appears to be sleepwalking into oblivion”.

He added that the UK has sacrificed common sense to pursue a dogmatic abandonment of its own best interests.

Brown, who was prime minister from 2007 to 2010, said nationalism is pulling the UK apart, driving it towards “an unprecedented economic calamity precipitated by a no-deal exit from the EU”.