Helle Thorning Schmidt: 'Brexit was convenient for the Tories, not good for the UK'

By Michael Baggs (with Lewis Goodall)

The former leader of Denmark’s Social Democrats party tells The News Agents why the UK was left “smaller” on the world stage after Brexit, and why the solutions to its problems were to work closer with the EU, not leave it behind.

Read time: 4 mins

In brief…

• Helle Thorning Schmidt discusses the UK’s current standing in the world since it voted to leave the UK in 2016.
• She says the UK is now “smaller”, which was the inevitable consequence of leaving an institution which still holds major political power.
• She also describes Donald Trump’s intentions on Greenland, which is part of Denmark, as “extremely concerning”, and says his words must be taken seriously.

What’s the story?

Helle Thorning Schmidt, former Prime Minister of Denmark, has told The News Agents she believes Brexit only took place because it helped the Conservative Party, not because it posed any benefit for the United Kingdom.

Thorning Schmidt, who was the Danish PM between 2011 and 2015, says she understands some of the concerns which led to the UK voting to leave the European Union in 2016, but believes this could have been worked on in unison with the EU.

"British policies on the European Union have not been so much based on what's good for the UK, but perhaps more based on what was convenient in the Conservative Party for decades," Thorning Schmidt says in a new interview with Lewis Goodall.

She believes concerns about "welfare tourism" – fears over people moving to EU states to take advantage of state support – were prevalent in Denmark at the time of the Brexit vote. She believes David Cameron could have achieved some "concessions" from the EU around these concerns, without having to leave the Union.

"If it had been for the benefit of the British population, I think David Cameron could have got a deal from the European Union and then perhaps put that to the vote after a debate in the UK."

"The problem was that the reason why they ended up taking a Brexit vote was for the benefit of the Conservative Party."

Former Danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt on why Brexit has not been good for the UK

Is the UK now "smaller" on the global stage since Brexit?

Immigration was one of the key points of the Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum – despite it having continued to increase in the years since the UK left the EU in 2020.

Thorning Schmidt, who led the left-leaning Social Democrat party in Denmark, says illegal immigration is a subject that parties on both sides of the political divide must address.

"You have to have a very strict governance of your borders, and that means you shouldn't be squeamish about that, and you can't allow everyone who wants to come to your country. You have to be very strict on your borders," she says.

"We said, of course, we have to take our fair share of the refugees that we have coming out of Syria right now, but also we have to make sure that we are in control of our borders and we are in control of who lives in this country, so you can't have illegal migration.

"You can't have people coming in, staying in your country, and you don't know where they are and what they're doing. You have to have control of these things."

In the years since Brexit, debate has continued about the benefits (or lack of) for the UK since leaving the UK, with current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch recently criticising the deal struck.

Thorning Schmidt says the impact on the UK's global standing is clear to other countries in the EU, and across the world.

"What has happened is that the UK has made itself smaller in the global community by leaving the European Union," she says, despite insisting its exit has not damaged its reputation.

"I don't think there's any doubt that if you leave a big, substantial union like the European Union, which actually still has a lot of influence in the world, you are making yourself smaller in the global perspective. The UK is a fantastic nation, and we need the UK in the European Union.

"The EU has said all along that their door is open, if there's a will to reset the relationship, I think the door is definitely open to the UK."

Denmark versus Trump: The Greenland debate

Denmark, despite its relatively small status on a global scale and a population of 5.9 million people, has been thrust onto the international stage in recent weeks since President Trump began his second term in US office.

Among other grand plans to expand American territories beyond its current borders, he has said he wants to take control of Greenland, which is currently part of Denmark.

Thorning Schmidt describes this as an "extraordinary situation", and has left many people in Denmark feeling "uncomfortable" over the new president's military threats.

"The Americans have actually got very good access to whatever they want in Greenland," she says.

"If they feel that they want to have a stronger military engagement in Greenland, I think that could be possible. If they want to have a stronger economic engagement with Greenland, that's possible as well.

"So all the things that the Americans are thinking that they want in Greenland right now, I think are possible without owning Greenland."

Despite uncertainty over whether Trump will make good on his statements concerning the vast natural resources in Greenland, she says his words must be taken seriously.

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