“It is split over the future of the Eurozone, it is split over migration, it is split over the power of the Commission to enforce what it sees as its rules in eastern Europe. I think it may split over foreign policy, for example, reacting to Trump on various fronts. I think are in a very serious situation."

“If there is another economic crisis, whether it comes because of a crash in the Chinese economy, or because of tariff wars that are begun by President Trump, there is a danger the eurozone would collapse. If the euro collapses then the whole caboodle collapses I think, that is a very real threat.”

Speaking back in July, Mr Sked also took a swipe at the Germany economy. He said: “Even the Germany economy right now is just a whisker from a recession. Retail sales are in freefall, the last four quarters have seen economic growth go down. Quantitive easing by the European Central Bank is coming to an end which leads to €2 trillion worth of European debt to worry about. Its banking system is wobbly. The Deutsche Bank goes from worse to worse, its shares go down and down. Even what looks like the most robust economy in Europe is actually quite shaky.”

"France and Germany have to send a strong signal to the Commission that we need to negotiate a pragmatic and sensible outcome that protects jobs on both sides of the Channel because for every job lost in the UK, there will be jobs lost in Europe as well if Brexit goes wrong. There would not just be economic consequences for the UK, there would be profound economic consequences for the rest of Europe.”