The French President was told the EU is “not in a great shape” and he would be better stood alongside the United Kingdom after the country finally leaves the European Union.

Richard Dearlove, writing in Prospect Magazine, said Brexit actually works in the favour of Mr Macron and the French President’s vision for further European integration.

However, he outlined how the integration could face a stumbling block while trying to move to a more central defence policy.

Mr Dearlove adds: “I have not mentioned Nato, but I do not believe that continental Europe has either the will or the means to reproduce the strategic defence and security benefits that accrue to it either from its dependence on the UK, in particular, A or Nato in general.”

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC’s Newsnight, Mr Dearlove spoke about how he now believes it is best for the UK to step-aside from the EU.

He said: “We have always been skin-deep members of the European Union. 

“We have believed in a shallow political union and the EU itself is not in a great shape. 

“It needs to change very significantly in a number of areas. 

“And, if you look at the situation now, I think that the best way forward for the UK is to stand aside.

“If you think of Europe as an aggregation of nation states, Really what I’m saying is let’s look at Europe through the optic of the interests of its major nation state members and they should, in my view, be embracing the opportunity that we are offering them. 

“We can be supportive, we can as it contributed from the outside. 

“There is no disaster about the UK returning to a mid-Atlantic position which is the one that we have traditionally occupied.

“So I mean I see this more as an opportunity than a disaster.”