| Sir Gus O’Donnell (r.), shown here with Queen Elizabeth, said his country may not leave the European Union. (WPA POOL/GETTY IMAGES) |
A former top civil servant says a British exit from the European Union is not inevitable — even though voters backed that course in a June referendum.
Negotiations are due to begin next year for Britain to leave the EU following the public’s 52% anti-EU vote. But Gus O’Donnell, who was UK cabinet secretary from 2005 to 2011 and today sits in the House of Lords, says Britain could still remain. He was quoted Saturday in The Times newspaper that a British exit “depends on what happens to public opinion and whether the EU changes before then.”