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Gordon Brown believes a second Brexit referendum 'will happen' because the people want "the final say".

In a major speech, the former Labour Prime Minister called for a Royal Commission to be launched to listen to the concerns of both Leave and Remain voters, which have not been resolved since the 2016 poll.

And he said urgent action was needed to prevent Britain falling further into "toxic rancour", poisoned by feelings of betrayal on both sides.

Speaking at London's Institute for Government, Mr Brown said Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal is nothing more than an attempt at a ‘temporary, short-term fix’ in the absence of her Cabinet agreeing on how to resolve the major issues facing Britain.

And he warned two more years of negotiation against a backdrop of Tory infighting could leave Britain more divided than in the 80's during the miners strike.

He said: "Normally in a negotiation you set your long-term objectives and work out how to achieve them. But whatever the deal is and with or without a deal, the long-term questions about Britain’s future will remain unanswered and unresolved.

"Even with a deal our end-point - Canada or Norway - is unresolved. Our long-term relationship to the customs union is unresolved, our long-term relationship to the single market is unresolved and the scope to sign trade deals is unresolved.

”We will have, at best, a short-term fix in the absence of an agreed end point - a short-term fix because the Cabinet cannot agree on an end point."

(Image: PA)

He went on: "There is a further worry: If the next two years of negotiation involve a process as inward looking, divisive and partisan - as dominated and driven by internal Conservative politics as the past two years we will become an even more divided country.

"More divided than in the 70’s during the three-day week, than in the 80’s during the miners’ strike and than in the early 90s because of poll tax.

“Indeed we have to look back to the angry debates on the corn laws in the 1840s and on Ireland in the 1880s - but these were before the advent of a full democracy."

(Image: PA)

He added: "I fear a sense of betrayal will increasingly take root on all sides. Millions of young people who want to remain, feeling betrayed that their future is being mortgaged by an older generation.

“Remain voters feeling betrayed because the European referendum was won, in their view, on the basis of dishonest propaganda and in the view of the Electoral Commission by corrupt electoral practises.

“Leave voters feeling that pledges made at the referendum are not being delivered; for example the promises of being better off, of more money for the NHS, of absolute freedom for the fishing industry and of how easy a clean break would be.

“Most of all, Leave voters feeling that the promise that their voices would finally be listened to - one of the main reasons why they rebelled against the advice of their leaders - is not being honoured.

“And yet the very sentiments that caused Brexit - people feeling locked out of and not being heard on the decisions affecting their lives - have been confirmed in the two-year decision-making process that has seemed inward looking, over-partisan, dominated by internal party considerations and now looking to the public like a rerun of the same old Westminster bickering and party games that gave rise to 2016’s popular rebellion against the establishment.

‘It is time to act to prevent this continuing descent into a toxic future and the allegations of ‘betrayal’ from all sides -an atmosphere that is fertile ground for populist politicians whose main claim is not that they offer serious alternatives but whose stock in trade is to articulate people’s anger.”

The former PM proposed a new Royal Commission to engage with the views of both Leave and Remain voters across the country.

And he said he believes a new referendum is likely to happen "at some point."

He said: ”I believe a referendum will happen as people come to the conclusion that since 2016 the situation has changed and at some point they will want to have the final say.

“But we have to deal with the very real concerns raised in the referendum and since by the British people and not yet answered.

"We cannot reunite a divided country without talking to the country, getting outside the Westminster bubble, entering a dialogue with the regions and nations and engaging the people in an open, outward looking conversation about our future in a more systematic and constructive way than is happening right now.

“I propose a new kind of Royal Commission - not the usual Royal Commission of the great and good to ‘take minutes and spend years’ but what I call a Royal Commission of the People, a platform that is designed to enable, encourage engage and empower voices and concerns over the way ahead.

“It would enable us to hear views and opinions in all regions and nations and in all sectors and involving all stakeholders in industry.

“It would encourage a national conversation by organising deliberative hearings around the country that listen to the concerns of the public about the causes and consequences of Brexit and their aspirations for the future.

"And It would engage us in a dialogue about the difficult issues from migration to sovereignty and our long-term economic future, empowering all voices to be heard. ‘We should explore how best to make this work in a way that is non-partisan, ecumenical and inclusive but I am clear that facing years more of negotiation on the issues raised by Brexit what is needed is a consultative process that breaks from the deeply unsatisfactory, inward-looking Whitehall-dominated partisan and inevitably piecemeal decision-making process of the past two years.”

Note: The above is the text of the speech as it was written. The speech as delivered at London's Institute For Government may have been slightly different