Nicholas Boyle, a University of Cambridge professor of German philology described Brexit as a “mental breakdown” which would cause Britain damage. He said: “Brexit is a kind of mental breakdown, and this breakdown will continue. The tensions in the kingdom will grow. Northern Ireland will presumably be the first to leave and join the Republic of Ireland.

“Scottish independence depends on economic development. If we face a prolonged recession, Scotland will probably leave.”

Professor Boyle also predicted the political landscape in the coming years would turn into a dystopian novel.

When asked whether Britain would become more conservative after Brexit, he added: “Probably.

“Although it cannot be ruled out that a new, more socialist Labour party will come to power in about ten years, and that we will get a kind of ‘Ingsoc’, a totalitarianism like Orwell had already anticipated in ‘1984’.”

And Professor Boyle went on to make further ’1984’ allusions when speaking about Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with the United States.

He said: “In spite of the recent arguments with Trump, they [Britain] are likely to opt for closer ties to the United States.

“We always had a choice between Europe and America. George Orwell foresaw that. In his novel 1984, Great Britain and the United States form a country called ‘Oceania’ that opposes ‘Eurasia’. This could happen in a few decades: England as the 51st state of the USA.”

Professor Boyle, who is an Irish citizen, is the emeritus Schroder professor of German at the University of Cambridge, who was interviewed by Süddeutsche Zeitung, a German daily newspaper.

He came to public attention in 2017 when a letter he wrote in response to a Financial Times article went viral.

The article stated the pro-Brexit wing of the Conservative Party should be known as ‘f*ckers’ whilst their opponents should be called ‘w*nkers’.

Boyle said “this rhetoric inverts the truth” as “it is the Europhobes who shut themselves away in self-gratifying fantasies, while the Remainers know that real life is possible only through interaction with others”.

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The letter was described as the “letter of the decade” by then-editor Lionel Barber.

And Professor Boyle also levelled criticism toward Boris Johnson in his interview.

The German scholar did not express gratitude to the Prime Minister for ending the deadlock of Brexit describing it as “the wrong conclusion”.

He also dubbed the PM’s policy processes as “introspective” when asked about how he believed the UK would develop post-Brexit.

Professor Boyle said: “It will be more introspective. Boris Johnson is already doing this: one has to think of the regions, he says, of poverty, of the health system.

“He seems to prefer to avoid the majority of foreign policy issues.”

However, Professor Boyle maintains the belief Britain will regret leaving the European bloc.

He asserted the UK would return in 10 years “after the Conservatives’ final defeat”.

Professor Boyle has refused to celebrate Brexit Day.

He will instead spend the evening at a Beethoven concert with a German-English couple who were once his doctoral students.

Additional reporting Monika Pallenberg.

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