Leaving the European Union would not restore Britain’s sovereignty as the world today is far too globalised to retreat into history, Gordon Brown said in his first intervention in the referendum debate.

Any suggestion that the UK could revert to a 19th-century utopia where control was centred at Westminster was misleading, the former prime minister claimed as he urged politicians to make a more positive case for remaining.

The choice at the June 23 referendum was not between autonomy and co-operation but about finding the right balance between the two, he said.

“Globalisation maximises opportunities but also creates insecurity,” he said. “Most people are disaffected because we are not managing globalisation well. But the answer is not to give up on co-operation but to co-operate