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Italian EU diplomat Corrado Pirzio-Biroli revealed his regret at trying to convince Britons to stay in the Brussels bloc during the 1975 referendum. And the former Commission official
attacked British governments for their constant ambivalence towards Europe - claiming attitudes towards the bloc have not changed since Winston Churchill was in charge. In an article in
1930, the war-time prime minster said: “We are with Europe, but not in it. “We are linked, but not compromised. “We are interested, but not absorbed.” And Mr Pirzio-Biroli said the
exasperated 27 remaining member states have had enough of the UK's failure to commit to the bloc's ideals and plans. He also savaged Britain for trying to secure special deals
while opting out from most of the bloc’s main agreements and treaties. Writing in the FT, he said: “After years of British ambiguities, diffidence, equivocations, grievances and misgivings,
which the European Union had to patiently endure, Brexit is the last straw in the tragedy of a Britain that could not make its mind up about Europe. “After its dissatisfaction with the
European Free Trade Association as a substitute for EU membership, according to Professor Paul de Grauwe of the London School of Economics Britain’s main strategy in joining the EU was to
prevent the union from becoming too strong, believing this could best be one from inside. “It therefore kept challenging the core fundamental EU values, obtaining special status with a
number of opt outs from EU law. “Mrs May’s leave strategy remains the same: to weaken the integrationist forces by insisting on special deals whereby it maintains the benefits of the union
while not sharing in the costs. “Which is why Britain cannot expect a blank cheque to rewrite its relations with the EU - and this risks fatally weakening the UK in turn. “Having been an
active participant as a commission official in the 1975 referendum, I can only regret wasting so much time to keep Britain in.” The europhile also attacked Theresa May for her divisive push
for a hard Brexit, claiming she has “antagonised even the many anglophile people in Europe, just as it has a majority of Scots and Irish people”. The comments come as Mrs May was warned she
must trigger Article 50 now or face Brexit negotiations being delayed until June. THERESA MAY: BREXIT WILL BE A DEFINING MOMENT FOR THE UK Leaders of the remaining 27 member state had
planned to offer the UK a response to the move at a summit on April 6. But senior diplomats now claim the timetable will be too tight if the PM holds off until the end of March - with French
elections and Easter delaying the schedule. EU officials, under condition of anonymity, told Bloomberg Politics government ministers could meet in Luxembourg on June 20, almost a year since
the EU referendum, to open the talks. But an eight week delay risks upsetting banks and businesses eager to seek clarity on the terms of Brexit.