Albion Rose

So, we're out. How was your first week? 

I voted (reluctantly) to Remain, but I told myself the day of the referendum that whatever the result, I would remain proud of this country. The fact that we were holding such a referendum - uniquely so far - was in itself something to take pride in.

I'm happy to say that that pride has held out. It took some blows; for instance, in the immediate aftermath of the referendum when a minority of bigots felt emboldened to enact their savage prejudices toward immigrants; when Theresa May's government (to my shock and dismay) failed to immediately guarantee the continued rights of residence of 3.2m EU residents of the UK; and when Mrs May's government thought so little of this country that they were willing to sign her into a state of vassalage, in which we would take EU law but have no say in its making.

But all societies have their share of racism, and the UK, it must be said, has a notably meagre one, at least as suggested by reams of data. More anecdotally I read just today that the artist Ai Weiwei has moved to the UK from an EU capital city as he feels the atmosphere there has become too hostile to refugees. If racism is still your top trump explanation for Brexit, you need to have another look. As for the supine approach in the negotiations, democracy did its job again and we now have a government that, for all its faults, is spurred by an obvious belief in this country, and renegotiated the Withdrawal Agreement, despite almost everyone saying it couldn't be done. Also, one of its first acts was to pass a law guaranteeing the rights of the 3.2m, though that these decent, hard-working citizens (including my dad) had effectively been used as bargaining chips is a sadness that will be with me for a very long time.

But you know what? The government that so pointedly declined to defend these citizens' rights was a government led by Remainers (Home Secretary, to refresh your memories, was Amber Rudd; yes I had to google it), whereas a government led by Leavers did so without hesitation. I'd hypothesise that the Remainers who ran the government from Summer 2016 to Summer 2019 were possessed of the same misunderstandings of Leave voters and what Brexit really represented as the worst kind of Remoaner: the latter Remainer imagines Brexit the outcome of rabid racism and condemns it 'til they are blue in the face and their keyboards ablaze from Twittering, while the former Remainer imagined the same but tried to do its bidding. But those imaginary Leavers were just that, imaginary; the vast and overwhelming majority are good, tolerant people. It took a government led by Leavers to understand this.

The one thing May's treaty achieved was ending free movement (May did have a bit of a monofocus on restricting immigration, a kind of PTSD symptom from her service in the Home Office trenches). If Brexit was really all just about immigration (and I'm *not* saying it wasn't at all about immigration), would it not have been at least slightly better received than it was? As it was, it went down like a bucket of cold sick.

What Brexit was about, is another post entirely. But in the spirit of looking to the future and understanding one another better, I invite all those of you who have read this far to join me in a game of 'Fantasy Britain'. Name one (or two or three) things you'd like to see the UK do/be/join/stand for as we carve out our role beyond the EU. Dream big! After all, leaving the EU was a dream once. And yes, you have permission to be silly too. And, of course, tell me I'm wrong. Extra points for things that *can't be done* as members of the EU, now there's a challenge. Here are mine:

1. Fulfill our moral and legal obligations to Hong Kong by expanding the British National (Overseas) to full visa rights, and initiating a Magnitsky Law levelling sanctions at those responsible for the atrocities
2. Rejoin the European Free Trade Association, which we helped found, and has, unlike the EEC/EU, remained an economic organisation and not morphed into something completely unrecognisable since. It would also remind people that we have no intention of committing the cultural and geographical impossibility of 'leaving Europe'
3. Do CANZUK. Closer economic, military and migration (perhaps extending to free movement) with the three other countries we share most with in the world, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. (Incidentally - or not - CANZUK free movement is also something the May government rejected out of hand; seeing the pattern here? I would in time love to see free movement to the UK extended to all of the Crown's realms)

This is the beginning, not the end. If you don't see it that way, try.