George Osborne does not 'regret' decision to hold referendum

The former Chancellor said he stood by the 'collective decision' to hold the referendum even though it cost him his job

Since leaving office George Osborne has set up a Northern Powerhouse thin tank (Getty)

Former Chancellor George Osborne has said that British people could be “paying with their jobs and livelihoods for many many years if not decades to come” over the vote to leave the European Union.

In an interview with the Manchester Evening News, Mr Osborne stood by the decision to hold the referendum, which had been a ‘collective decision’ and said there was plenty to achieve from life on the backbenches. Since being removed from the Number 11 by Theresa May, Mr Osborne has set up a think tank for the Northern Powerhouse, his flagship policy to rebalance the UK economy.

“I’m not pretending this is necessarily where I wanted to end up spending the second half of the year, out of office, because I wanted to win the referendum and I wanted to keep Britain in the EU and I wanted to remain in the government,” he said. “But actually there are a lot of things you can do as an MP to promote your causes outside of the Treasury or the government.”