Gordon Brown wants tougher immigration control

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown has called for tougher migration controls to address the concerns of Brexit voters and to prevent the UK being permanently paralysed by its decision to leave the European Union.

Brown said the referendum result was a revolt against the political, business and cultural establishment and it was a mistake to dismiss the 52 per cent-48 per cent result as false consciousness.

The former prime minister said ministers should be concentrating on tackling the main concerns of leave voters rather than focusing on the fine point of the Brexit agreement.

"In our long history as a United Kingdom at times threatened by invasion, sometimes subject to bombardment and for a time laid low by civil war we have always found the strength from within ourselves to come together as one. By seeking and then finding common ground we have triumphed over whatever crises we have confronted, Brown said.

"Yet we are now at serious risk of being permanently paralysed by seemingly irreparable divisions a fractured country divided not just over Brexit, but also with Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions at odds with Westminster and at what they see as a London-centric view of the world."