Mr Lidington had in the days leading up to his arrival in Lisbon warned that Brexit would “spark a decade of economic limbo” and that there was a serious risk that Britons could be forced to stop living in popular southern European destinations.


The UK’s longest-serving Europe Minister explained during an interview at the British Embassy in Lisbon that his fleeting visit to the capital included talks with his Portuguese counterpart Maria Marques, the European Affairs Committee and a meeting with opposition leader Pedro Passos Coelho.


Discussions over Bexit dominated these discussions, he said.


As for the need for a referendum, Mr Lidingdton said: “The Prime Minister pledged a Europe referendum in January 2013 and that was then included in the Conservative manifesto for the general elections. So this is the delivery of a very clear manifesto pledge.”
He argued that the assessment the Prime Minister made was that the question of UK membership of the EU was not going to go away, and the only way to deal with the matter was to call a referendum.


“Because it was an issue that cut across party boundaries, it was decided to put it to the people”, he said.


“What we saw in Britain was a growing resentment. We had treaty after treaty – Masstricht, Amsterdam, Lisbon, which had transferred powers from the UK to European institutions without there being a public endorsement.”
The Europe Minister also explained that referendums have become increasingly popular in Britain to resolve divisive issues, “and in the last 15 years, Britain has held referendums on other major issues, such as the devolution of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the peace settlement for Northern Ireland, whether to have an elected Mayor of London, whether to change to the voting system for the House of Commons and whether to have Scottish independence. So we have seen a greater shift towards referendums of British Constitutional arrangement and I do think the issue of the EU referendum falls into that category.”


As for the time given to the British electorate to contemplate which way to cast their vote in the plebiscite, he said he felt “108 days is plenty of time for people to prepare for the referendum. General elections used to be called within four to six weeks. I don’t think four months is inadequate.”


As for the potential implications of the UK leaving Europe, he said: “There is immense uncertainty. The route of leaving the EU is specified in Article 50 which stipulates that after two years, the outgoing member is free of all obligations, unless all remaining EU states agree to extent that deadline.

“What I think is fairyland is the assumption by the leave campaign that you can stop all movement to the UK by other EU citizens but keep the right of British citizens to travel or live wherever they like in the Europe.”


David Lidington continued by calling on the leave campaign to face up to the reality that restrictions imposed on EU citizens are likely to be matched elsewhere in Europe on British citizens.


In saying that, he revealed that the Portuguese government is very much hoping we will vote for continued membership and that continued residence in Portugal and elsewhere in the EU for Britons could be a topic of talks should Britain leave.


Questioned over the inability to vote for Britons who have lived outside the UK for 15 years or longer, he replied that “it was originally 20 years. The Blair government knocked it down to 15 years. It is unfortunate for people who fall in that category. But my advice is for people who have lived abroad for 15 years or less is to register, as figures are still very low.”


Current British government estimates are that only around 100,000 British expats out of several million have registered, though embassy officials have said that this number has been steadily rising in the past four to five weeks.
As for division within the polarised Conservative Party, Mr Lidington said he hoped that prominent figures choosing opposite sides would be overcome.


“There are big efforts being made by the Prime Minister to avoid lasting division within the Conservative Party. I was in Parliament for the Maastricht bill under John Major, and there was much more bitterness and acrimony. There was still lot of political baggage with the overthrow of Margaret Thatcher in 1990, whereas we are in a different era now.


As for the effects of the tabloid press on the electorate, many of whom appear to be pushing for Brexit, the Europe Minister said: “We shouldn’t assume everybody buys a newspaper for its political coverage.”


But as for immigration dominating headlines and pro-Brexit campaigning, he admitted that immigration is a very important issue.
“It is important that Europe comes up with a solution for African and Middle Eastern immigration. No single country can deal with this issue on its own. Britain leaving the EU will not stop one person from coming from Africa or the Middle East”, Mr Lidington reasoned, adding: “It will not stop one person from moving to Calais. A British exit might put at risk British immigration control on French soil in places like Calais. That system is very important to us and the French government is under a lot of domestic pressure to end that arrangement.”


He also felt Britain would lose economically should it vote to leave the EU.


“Britain exports 45 percent of its goods to the EU, whereas the EU collectively exports seven percent to the UK. Our services exports are important and roughly a third of the city of London’s exports is to the rest of the EU. Trade with Europe really does matter more to us than the UK as a single matter does to the other 27.”


The Minister believed that while Britain could survive outside the EU, “no doubt about that, but I think that is not the best solution for us. To be outside the world’s largest single market, having to comply with its rules, with no say and no vote in making those rules seems to second class status to what we have now.”


In terms of security, Mr Lidington said that Britain was definitely safer inside the Union.


“We can opt to apply certain measures. European arrest warrants have helped us to get back a thousand terrorists and serious offenders and get rid of about seven thousand people who fled to Britain who were wanted in other European jurisdictions.


“The EU also stood together to impose tough sanctions on Iran when a nuclear arms race threatened the Middle East. Also, Russian President Vladimir Putin would love to divide European countries from one another”, he reasoned, and accepted that the EU is “flawed, it is a human institution, but it is vital to our prosperity and security.”


On the effects leaving the EU would have on the pound, Mr Lidington had no doubts.


“When the Mayor of London announced he was supporting a British exit from the EU, the pound dropped very sharply. Currencies hate uncertainties and instability and an exit would leave us with years of uncertainty.”


He concluded that British people should consider that the other 27 states will not “suddenly rush in to give us everything we like about EU membership with none of the burdens.


“The precedents of Norway and Switzerland tell us that you can negotiate market access, but to do that, you have to accept EU rules, but have no say in them. The UK will still have to pay into the EU budget and we will still have to accept full freedom of movement.”