DONALD Trump's election to the White House is a "zig zag" in humanity's progression towards ever greater civilisation, Richard Dawkins has said. 

The renowned biologist insisted the arc of history – including the abolition of slavery and equality for women – showed Mr Trump was simply a blimp, rather than a disaster. 

It came as he condemned the UK's Brexit negotiations as a "train wreck", and insisted the only way to undo the damage was to have a second vote on the final deal.

Mr Dawkins was discussing his latest collection of essays, Science in the Soul, with a sold-out crowd at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. 

Asked if he thought Mr Trump upended his theory that civilisation is progressing, he said the former tycoon was simply a "zig zag". 

He said: "We've abolished slavery, the rights of women, we no longer torture cats for entertainment and so on – there have been enormous numbers of instances where human nature, human behaviour has become better by the standards of what we think of today. 

"And I see no reason why that trend shouldn't continue. And of course like any long-term historical trend, it's not a smooth one. It is a zig zagging one. 

"Much greater 'zags' than Donald Trump were the two great world wars of the twentieth century. They were appalling zags."

He said he based his reasoning on two books – Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature and Michael Shermer's The Moral Arc, which suggest that as the centuries go by, people have been getting nicer.

He added: "You have to see the wood for the trees."

Mr Dawkins, a staunch critic of the Brexit referendum, also threw his weight behind calls for a so-called "People's Vote" on the final deal. 

He said too many Brits had voted with their gut in 2016, instead of considering the highly complicated issues at stake. 

But he added: "To be fair to them, David Cameron should never have offered a referendum to people who haven't got the time to study all the detailed ramifications of the topic."

The scientist said the technical complexities of Brexit had become "all too apparent in the train wreck of negotiations that have been happening".  

He added: "Although I don't think there ever should have been a referendum, I suspect the only way to undo the damage is to have another one."

He said he "disapproved" of referendums in general, but suggested a two-thirds majority should have been required in the case of Brexit.

But despite his strong views, he said he was "sympathetic" to the argument that the UK should never have joined the Common Market in the first place.

Mr Dawkins said the use of the internet to manipulate voters, which has emerged as a hot topic in the aftermath of the EU vote, was "very, very dangerous", adding: "It's something we've got to guard against."

He continued: "With any major new innovation, it may take a little bit of time for us to catch up and put in place necessary safeguards, maybe even legislation, to control the possible bad effects of the new technology."

He said democracy was "the best of a bad lot" when it came to political systems, and argued institutions should be made "as democratic as possible".

The well-known atheist, who has repeatedly attracted controversy for his views, also told the Book Festival he found it "really quite hard" to understand scientists with strict religious beliefs. 

He argued religion was inherently vulnerable to being used for evil because it depends on "unargued faith".

Mr Dawkins said he was in favour of children being taught about religion, but added: "I'm not in favour of educating children, indoctrinating children, in a particular religion. 

"Telling them, 'You are a Catholic child, you are a Protestant child, therefore this is what you believe. That, I think, is deeply evil. 

"It's divisive. It's treating the children's intellectual capacities with contempt, rather than letting them come to their own conclusions when they are old enough to do so."