Lee Anderson (Image: Getty)

       Lee Anderson has mocked a former European Commission chief who claimed Britain will be back in the EU within 15 years.

       Romano Prodi claimed that Brexit will be reversed by 2040.

       The ex-eurocrat, who served as EC President from 1999 to 2004, said: “I’m betting that in 15 years the UK will come back.”

       The former Italian Prime Minister told an audience at the UCL Centre for Finance Annual Lecture in London that he originally thought Britain would rejoin in “20 years”.

       Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)

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       Romano Prodi (Image: Getty)

       But Mr Anderson laughed off his claims, suggesting Labour would want to take us back into the EU before then.

       The Reform UK MP said: “Mr Prodi is way off the mark. This Labour government will want us back in before they get booted out in 2029.”

       Sir Keir Starmer has previously insisted the UK will not rejoin the EU within his lifetime.

       But he has prioritised closer ties with Brussels since becoming Prime Minister, insisting the UK must forge a new relationship with the bloc.

       And he has quickly set about renegotiating the deal agreed upon by Boris Johnson and the Tories.

       This week, Sir Keir scored the first breakthrough in his Brexit reset with a landmark new defence deal with Germany.

       Mr Prodi’s optimism for Britain to rejoin the EU is not matched by Jean-Claude Juncker, another former European Commission chief, who in July suggested it would take “a century or two”.

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