Protectionist rhetoric in the “pro-Brexit” campaign against the European Union and in the U.S. presidential campaign threaten the economies of both Britain and the U.S., says former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Mulroney, the Prime Minister responsible for the North American Free Trade Agreement spoke with BNN just days before British voters will vote in a referendum on whether to remain or leave the European Union. 

The European Union has helped increase prosperity and keep the peace in Europe for decades and leaving would be an “unrelieved disaster,” for Britain, said Mulroney. “Britain would be a big loser if it were to abandon all those decades of progress,” he said.

The latest polls show a neck-and-neck race between both sides in the contentious referendum vote. Anti-European sentiment has been fueled by European refugee crisis, says Mulroney. “This vast migration from Syria and the Middle East that has scared the hell out of people in England and elsewhere,” he says. “The argument: is if we stay in Europe we are going to get more of this.”

Mulroney says he is confident Britain will vote to remain in Europe. “This is going to enhance your prosperity not diminish it – stick with it,” he said.

There is no danger to the North American Free Trade Agreement – despite the increased anti-free trade rhetoric in the U.S. Presidential Election, he says.  “If you cancelled your trade arrangements and threw up barriers as they did in the 1930’s you would bring about a catastrophic recession – and depression. That’s not going to happen,” said Mulroney.

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has railed against NAFTA, calling it “the worst economic deal in U.S. history.”

The NAFTA deal was controversial in Canada, but Canadians have embraced free trade, Mulroney says. “You want to get defeated fast in Canada in an election campaign… say you are going to cancel the Canada – U.S free trade agreement….  and see what’s going to happen to you.“