HAMPSHIRE TV star Dan Snow has called for a remain vote in the EU referendum.

The historian and presenter warned that “naive, optimistic isolation” could damage Britain’s influence on the world stage.

Great leaders from Elizabeth I to Thatcher worked with the continent to end conflicts and protect the national interest, said Mr Snow, from Exbury. Writing for a national newspaper (Mail on Sunday), he argued: “The greatest misconception is that the Channel is a moat. It is not; the sea around us has been a highway.

“The best way to defend our islands has been to confront the threat beyond them.

“The British have been repeatedly drawn into continental matters because the Channel has provided no protection from their consequences.”

Concluding, he wrote: “The EU is far from perfect but it is the best way we have of ensuring our interests are defended in Europe and our voice is heard loud and clear. If we leave, we will become passive observers, victims of the decisions made in our absence.

“I find it hard to believe that Elizabeth, Wellington, Palmerston, Churchill, Attlee and Thatcher would have opted for naive, optimistic isolation.”

Historians for Britain, a Eurosceptic group backed by the Vote Leave campaign, did not respond to a request for comment.