Failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a ‘very big disadvantage’, Hillary Clinton has claimed.
The former US secretary of state and presidential hopeful also said the Brexit result and more specifically the alleged lies told in the run up to the referendum were a precursor to her defeat to Donald Trump in last year’s presidential elections.
Mrs Clinton, who was today presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University, also took a swipe at President Trump and said he ‘doesn’t believe in trade’.
Hillary Clinton has referred to children being given ‘short shrift’ in the Brexit process as she was presented with an honorary doctorate at Swansea University
The former US secretary of state and presidential hopeful was recognised for her commitment to promoting the rights of families and children around the world
Mrs Clinton called for ’empathy’ on both sides of the Atlantic and highlighted the plight of children in the UK
Mrs Clinton called for ’empathy’ on both sides of the Atlantic and highlighted the plight of children in the UK.
In a speech at the university on Saturday afternoon, she said: ‘Teachers and schools are reporting an outbreak of bullying and racially motivated insults.
‘Here in the UK, divisive rhetoric and policy shifts are having their own effects.
‘Right now, the residency rights of half a million children, including many who were born in the UK, are hanging in the balance.
‘So there are reports of children being worried, feeling uncertain, even unsafe. Trying to make sense of their places in the world.
‘The children’s commissioners for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have already raised concerns that children’s interests are getting short shrift in the Brexit process.’
The former first lady said she continues to ‘believe in the value of the European Union’, adding: ‘What’s missing in both of our countries at the moment it seems to me, and what we need more than anything else, is empathy.
Earlier in the day Mrs Clinton had claimed Brexit and the lies told in the run up to the referendum were a precursor to her defeat to Donald Trump in 2016’s presidential elections
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, she said: ‘Looking at the Brexit vote now, it was a precursor to some extent of what happened to us in the United States’
Some protesters gathered outside the campus ahead of Mrs Clinton’s visit on Saturday
‘It should not only be at the centre of our individual lives, families and communities, but at the centre of our policy, politics and public lives.’
Mrs Clinton had earlier claimed Brexit and the false claims made in the run up to the referendum were a precursor to her defeat to Donald Trump in last year’s presidential elections.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, she said: ‘Looking at the Brexit vote now, it was a precursor to some extent of what happened to us in the United States.’
She added: ‘You know, the big lie is a very potent tool, and we’ve somewhat kept it at bay in western democracies, partly because of the freedom of the press.’
In the same interview Mrs Clinton warned failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a ‘very big disadvantage’
Mrs Clinton said no deal could mean more pressure on British businesses and the disruption could be ‘quite serious’
In the same interview Mrs Clinton warned failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a ‘very big disadvantage’.
She said: ‘I mean, no deal meaning no preferential trade deals, which means products in Britain would not have the kind of easy access to the European market that you’ve had under EU membership.
‘It could very well mean that there would be more pressure on businesses in Britain, if not to leave completely, at least also have sites and employment elsewhere in Europe.
‘I think that the disruption for Britain could be, you know, quite serious.’
Some protesters gathered outside the campus ahead of Mrs Clinton’s visit on Saturday.
The university’s college of law was renamed The Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law and she was presented with a book about her Welsh roots.