Britain could end up back in the European Union in a generation, a senior Cabinet minister has hinted.
Theresa May’s de facto deputy prime minster David Lidington suggested it might be something for future parliaments to consider.
The politician said it was impossible to predict what the EU might look like in ’10 or 20 years’ time’.
Mr Lidington, who campaigned for Remain during the EU Referendum, said he had not changed his views on Brexit but as a democrat it was his job to implement the will of the people.
Theresa May’s de facto deputy prime minster David Lidington suggested it might be something for future parliaments to consider
The former Europe minister chairs key Cabinet sub-committees on Brexit after taking over responsibilities from Damian Green who resigned in December.
The bloc is likely to be configured differently and that ‘is something that future parliaments, future generations, will have to consider’, the Cabinet Office Minister said.
Mr Lidington told The Daily Telegraph: ‘I think that the EU itself is going to change, and I think it is almost inevitable that the dynamic of the single currency is going to drive at least some of the current members of the EU towards much closer economic and, to a degree, political integration in the future.
I don’t think the EU in 20 years’ time is going to look the same as the EU of today
‘And I can’t see the UK wanting to go back into that sort of arrangement.
‘But we may be looking in a generation’s time at an EU that is also configured differently from what it is today, and the exact nature of the relationship between the UK and that future system – whatever it turns out to be – of European co-operation is something that future parliaments, future generations, will have to consider.
‘I don’t think the EU in 20 years’ time is going to look the same as the EU of today.’
Mr Lidington said there will be a need for a system of economic and political co-operation.
He added: ‘I think it’s a red herring to be saying ‘perhaps we’ll change our minds about going back into the EU in something that looks at all like the thing we’re leaving today. I don’t see that as happening.’
It comes after former Cabinet minister Justine Greening said a future generation of MPs will ‘improve or undo’ Brexit.
‘When they take their place here they will seek to improve or undo what we’ve done and make it work for them,’ she told the Commons.